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On this date in 2002, the “Sodbuster” sculpture was removed from downtown Fargo due to weather damage and deterioration, with no current plan or funding for its restoration or relocation.<\/p>\n
Here is the complete story as it appeared in the paper that day:<\/p>\n
Weather, trains take toll on \u2018Sodbuster\u2019<\/p>\n
By John Lamb<\/p>\n
It was a moment Todd Smith had waited for all morning.<\/p>\n
The president of the Plains Art Museum had wondered how long it would take someone to stop and ask why a work crew was hoisting the \u201cSodbuster\u201d sculpture onto a trailer early yesterday.<\/p>\n
The Luis Jim\u00e9nez landmark, depicting a burly, determined farmer working a team of oxen to plow a field, had stood like a sentry on the corners of Main Avenue and Broadway for 20 years. However, wear from the weather had taken its toll, and the sun had faded parts from its painted gray to a purplish hue.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you with the museum?\u201d Dan Murphy of Moorhead asked. \u201cI think that thing is beautiful,\u201d he added, as the sculpture was lifted into the air above the long prairie grass which had surrounded it.<\/p>\n
The undertaking was handled by Plains staffers and Methods & Materials of Chicago, which specializes in moving large pieces of art.<\/p>\n
\n See more history at Newspapers.com\n <\/p>\n
The museum recently commissioned a Minneapolis conservator to assess the condition of the sculpture. The study revealed exposure to the area\u2019s extreme elements and proximity to the railroad tracks had not only caused the paint to fade and crack, but also to wear away in some areas to reveal the fiberglass form underneath.<\/p>\n
Smith would not divulge where \u201cSodbuster\u201d was being relocated, but joked that it was an \u201cundisclosed location near Dick Cheney.\u201d He did suggest one possibility was to send the sculpture back to the artist\u2019s New Mexico studio, where Jim\u00e9nez could oversee restoration.<\/p>\n
For now, there are no funds set aside for the refurbishing or plans for where the 24-foot-long, 1,300-pound sculpture might be displayed when the project is completed.<\/p>\n
Preliminary sketches for downtown\u2019s renovation didn\u2019t include the work of art.
\u201cWe\u2019ve had several interested parties contact us, but for us, it\u2019s a matter of finding money to restore it,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
Fargo\u2019s \u201cSodbuster\u201d was the first of five models that found homes in Albuquerque, N.M., Buffalo, N.Y., Sacramento, Calif., and Oklahoma City. Smith said the deterioration of the Fargo \u201cSodbuster\u201d can partially be attributed to Jim\u00e9nez\u2019s experimentation with fiberglass and acrylic urethane paint.<\/p>\n
Jim\u00e9nez was selected by a panel consisting of three representatives each from the National Endowment of the Arts and the city of Fargo in 1977. The Fargo Parking Authority received a $20,000 matching grant from the NEA as part of the \u201cArt in Public Places Program.\u201d<\/p>\n
The city donated the sculpture to the Plains Art Museum in 1992 with the agreement the city would cover any moving expenses and the museum would cover maintenance and upkeep.<\/p>\n
Nancy Brenk said she\u2019ll miss the piece. She watched the workers while cleaning the front door of Wimmer\u2019s Jewelry across Main Avenue and said that through the years she\u2019s seen people have their picture taken in front of the sculpture.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen pictures of what it\u2019s going to look like there, so I know it\u2019s going to look nice,\u201d she said. \u201cHopefully when they find a place, people find it and keep enjoying it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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