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Description:
Reidy’s
work is an eight-foot tall bronze sculpture of Charles Trumbull
Hayden, the founding father of Tempe. At the Courts/Police Building
on 5th Street, Hayden is framed by the butte on which he
stood in order to survey the area for the flour mill he would build.
The sculpture also includes four bas-reliefs around the base of the
work depicting scenes from Hayden’s life, including the founding of
Hayden Flour Mill, Hayden’s Ferry, the Tempe Normal School (which
later became Arizona State University) and his role as a territory
judge.
Funding:
The
project was funded through city of Tempe Capital Improvement Project
Percent for Art funds.
Artist biography:
Clarke C.
Riedy, whose studio and foundry overlook the Salt River in Phoenix,
was selected through a statewide competition in 1993. He studied at
Glendale Community College, and from 1973-79 he apprenticed with
well-known Arizona sculptor, John Waddell, in his Cornville studio.
Riedy’s work has been featured at the Shemer Art Center, University
Club, Symphony Hall and the State Capitol, among others.
Artist statement:
Hayden was a statesman in the true sense of the word. Here was a
contemporary of Thomas Jefferson who brought West with him ideas
seminal to the development of this nation. As a result of his
efforts, a rough territory became a state. I shall endeavor to
embody in this work the character and expression of a gentleman of
the period whose life experience included both formal education and
the hard won confidence of an accomplished pragmatist - in short, a
pioneer of purpose. |
