Peace Arrives
The long-awaited sculpture commissioned by the Mount Prospect Library Board has made it to its final destination. The bronze and stainless steel sculpture by Crystal Lake artist Erik Blome graces the northeast corner of the Library near the corner of Emerson Street and Central Road.
Towering over 12 feet into the air, a globe, supported on a cascade of books, is incircled by a graceful flock of doves. The pages of the books feature the word “Peace” in 30 languages, including Braille, and form the basis for the artist’s inspiration that peace can be realized through knowledge.
The community is invited to the sculpture’s dedication at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 10.
The sculpture is in honor of Mrs. Elizabeth J. Clough, whose generous bequest in the early ’90s has allowed the Library to sponsor many special programs, including the annual cultural heritage month. This artwork was paid with the Elizabeth J. Clough Fund.
The sculpture’s foundation of books, with their opened pages, is cast in bronze as are the seven life-sized doves. The 4-foot high book stack weighs about 300 pounds with each dove tipping the scale at about 25 pounds.
The cage globe is fashioned out of stainless steel and measures about 5.5 feet in diameter. The globe also weighs about 300 pounds. The sections—bronze book base, stainless steel globe, and bronze doves—are joined using precision TIG welding, giving the project its sleek, seamless appearance.
There were a few bumps in the road— literally—during the formation of the work. Transporting the wax molds needed for the bronze castings to his foundry in Kansas, Blome found himself stranded in the middle of Missouri as a sub-zero ice storm blanketed the region. After two days I-80 was reopened.
“I was bumping along, the road was so covered with frozen ice all the way to Kansas,” Blome recalled. Finally reaching his destination, Blome discovered that several of the wax sections had cracked during the journey and would have to be refilled at the foundry before casting could begin.
Seeing how exhausted Blome was, the foundry offered to correct the wax sections before casting. Unfortunately, this step somehow got lost in the process and Blome received several castings with the cracks still visible. Correcting and recasting the sections added an additional month to the project’s completion timetable.
“It was kind of a domino effect triggered by that ice storm and then the bumps in the road,” said Blome. “When you start a work, you never know where the journey will lead.”
After completion, the sculpture made yet another road trip, this time covering the 27 miles between the artist’s Lakemoor studio and the Library, lying on a flatbed trailer. Holes were drilled in the pedestal base and filled with setting cement to match the threaded stainless steel studs on the base of the sculpture. The 800-lb. sculpture was then hoisted by crane and eased onto the pedestal.
