Ernie Pyle sculpture installed for Oct. 17 dedication
Ernie Pyle was hoisted aloft by the hook of a bright yellow backhoe and carried through the Sample Gates to the front of Franklin Hall the morning of Oct. 9, the first tangible evidence that the building will soon be home to The Media School.
The bronze sculpture, estimated by artist Tuck Langland to weigh about 1,000 pounds, arrived on the bed of a trailer, wrapped in plastic to protect it from rain and debris on its journey from the foundry in Oklahoma. Once the sculpture was seated in its permanent spot, Langland peeled off the plastic and began pointing out the details he’d taken care to reproduce.
The sculpture is based on a photo of Ernie sitting at a table in a field in Algeria during World War II. He’s perched on a wooden munitions crate, cap and goggles on his head, typewriter at his fingertips. Langland went to a wood shop and asked for warped planks so he could model a tabletop that looked as if it had been sitting out in the weather.
He made sure to get the cloth war correspondent badge, including stitches, on Ernie’s upper left sleeve, as well as the fingers on his left hand manually turning the broken carriage on his trusty Underwood Noiseless Portable typewriter. He gave Ernie a cup of coffee. He indicated the contents –- .50 caliber ammunition -– of Ernie’s munitions crate and a second 232-pound crate on the other side of the table. The extra seat invites visitors to take a pew and work on their laptops. Journalism student and Indiana Daily Student photographer Ike Hajinazarian was the first student to have the honor of sitting across from Ernie.
Langland signed his name on the back of Ernie’s pants, near where his seat meets the crate.
The only thing missing is Pyle’s ubiquitous cigarette. In this day of non-smokers, it was deemed too controversial, said Sherry Rouse, curator of campus art, who was there to observe the installation.
Langland, a professor emeritus of fine art at IU South Bend, began working on the sculpture early this year. He also created the bronze of Herman B Wells that sits between the Well House and Owen Hall.
He’ll be back Oct. 17 for the dedication of the sculpture, part of a celebration and formal inauguration of The Media School. The ceremony will be in Presidents Hall, part of Franklin Hall.