Fiscal Note
No appropriation is required.
Title
Deaccessioning Original Effigy Tree (1991), Wood Carved Sculpture, by Harry Whitehorse and Accepting Ownership of a Bronze Version of EffigyTree.
Body
WHEREAS for 17 years, Effigy Tree (1991), carved by artist Harry Whitehorse from a Hackberry tree that was felled by lightening, stood on what the artist described as sacred ground near the effigy mounds in Hudson Park near the corner of Lakeland Avenue and Maple Avenue.
WHEREAS Effigy Tree is a significant piece of art by renowned Wisconsin Ho-Chunk artist Harry Whitehorse, the sculpture also stands in close enough proximity to an existing effigy mound to serve as a visual marker of the important historic site.
WHEREAS the sculpture is much revered by Madison residents and others who visit the mounds or use the lake edge route to bike, jog or commute around the lake; and
WHEREAS the City already repaired and rededicated Effigy Tree once due to moisture related deterioration on June 28,1997; and
WHEREAS Effigy Tree, which had by July of 2007 once again degraded to the point that the artwork was in danger of decomposing beyond repair; and
WHEREAS a meeting with Harry Whitehorse in the summer of 2007 regarding his wishes for the piece clarified that the artists's original intent was to create a permanent sculpture; and
WHEREAS, the artist, seeing that Effigy Tree had become an important symbolic icon to the community, believed that best course of action for this sculpture was for him to repair Effigy Tree once again, that the sculpture should be cast in bronze, and that the bronze replica be placed in the original location for the enjoyment of many generations; and
WHEREAS in fall of 2007, Fine Arts Conservation Services recommended that the piece be immediately removed from Hudson Park, delivered to the artist's studio for repair, and that the original only be installed in an indoor climate controlled environment due to the conservator's determination that ...
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