''Forward'' is an 1893 bronze statue by American

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

Jean Pond Miner Coburn depicting an embodiment of Wisconsin's "Forward" motto. The 1996 replica was located at the

Wisconsin State Capitol The Wisconsin State Capitol, located in Madison, Wisconsin, houses both chambers of the Wisconsin legislature along with the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Office of the Governor. Completed in 1917, the building is the fifth to serve as the Wi ...

grounds at the top of State Street before it was vandalized in 2020. The statue often is misidentified with the ''Wisconsin'' statue on top of the Capitol dome.

History

During the 1893

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

, Miner and

Helen Farnsworth Mears Helen Farnsworth Mears (; December 21, 1872 – February 17, 1916) was an American sculptor. Early years Mears was born December 21, 1872, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, daughter of John Hall Mears and Elizabeth Farnsworth Mears (pen names "Nellie Wild ...

were named artists-in-residence at the Wisconsin Building. At that time, Miner was commissioned to create a work of art representing the state. She created ''Forward''; "Forward" is the

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

of the state of Wisconsin. A souvenir pamphlet from the Exposition described the statue as representing "a female figure standing upon the prow of a boat, the

figurehead In politics, a figurehead is a person who ''de jure'' (in name or by law) appears to hold an important and often supremely powerful title or office, yet ''de facto'' (in reality) exercises little to no actual power. This usually means that they ...

of which is '

Old Abe Old Abe (May 27, 1861 – March 26, 1881), a bald eagle, was the mascot of the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War. Later, his image was adopted as the eagle appearing on a globe in Case Corporation's logo an ...

.' The boat is surging through the water, and the figure, poised gracefully but firmly upon the prow, stretches forth the right hand, while the left clasps the American flag to its bosom." Miner had originally planned to cast it in copper, her funds ran out and the statue remained in its bronze form. The statue was afterward purchased by women's suffrage organizations and "presented to the state of Wisconsin on behalf of the women's suffrage movement. The statue was housed inside the

from 1893 to 1904. The sculpture was moved outdoors on the Capitol grounds in 1905. For a century the statue, made out of bronze, stood on the Wisconsin State Capitol grounds, slowly deteriorating. In 1996, several women's groups and "women of Wisconsin" raised the funds to have the work cast in bronze. This was placed on the Capitol grounds while the original was placed in the lobby of the

Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of N ...

building on the campus of the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

.Rubenstein, Charlotte Streifer, ''American Women Sculptors: A History of Women Working in Three Dimensions'', G. K. Hall and Co. Boston, 1990 p. 123

2020 replica vandalism

On June 23, 2020, ''Forward'' (the replica) and a Hans Christian Heg statue were toppled by protesters following the arrest of a

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police br ...

activist. The fall of the statue was characterized as a strategic political move by one of the protesters. Both statues were later recovered by the authorities, though Heg's statue lost a head and leg. At a July 20, 2020 meeting of the Wisconsin Capitol and Executive Residence Board, the board voted unanimously to restore both Heg's statue and ''Forward'' to their original condition and placement atop their pedestals. The state of Wisconsin received a grant of $30,000 from the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

the following October towards the expense of repairing of both the ''Heg'' and ''Forward'' statues. The statues were taken to Detroit where restoration will be done by Venus Bronze Works Inc. with reinstallation on the Capitol grounds anticipated by July 2021.

History

2020 replica vandalism

References

Further reading