by Elizabeth Stone
The University of West Georgia will debut six new wolf statues as part of the second phase of the Howl for UWG project at the Homecoming football game on Saturday, October 5. The statues will be on display at University Stadium, along with the recently repaired wolf statue, which was taken from its original location at The AMP at Adamson Square in August.
Dr. Greg Slappey and Carrollton Orthopedics staff add fiberglass casts to the legs of the repaired wolf.
The repaired wolf was recovered with damage primarily to the legs of the statue. One of the paws of the statue was missing, while two of the other paws were cracked. UWG Sculpture Professors Casey McGuire and Ryan Lamfers were able to repair the legs of the statue, and Kevin Shunn, associate professor and chair of UWG’s Department of Art, suggested adding fiberglass casts to the legs to secure them. Dr. Greg Slappey and the Carrollton Orthopedics Staff added the fiberglass casts to the legs of the statue and students from Carrollton Elementary School provided the final touches by personally signing the casts. Maddie Mashburn, the original designer of the wolf, was a student at Carrollton Elementary School when her design was chosen. To officially present the repaired wolf to the public, Dr. Randy Hendricks, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, suggested unveiling the statue at Eclectic Live, an annual event produced entirely by UWG students. Therefore, the wolf was presented during Eclectic Live at The AMP on Saturday, Sept. 28.
“We greatly appreciate all of the community support, especially from Dr. Slappey and Carrollton Othopedics, in helping us to repair the original wolf statue,” says Clint Samples, associate professor and assistant chair of UWG’s Department of Art. “It was exciting to turn this into a very positive situation and a great example of how a community can pull together.” Clint spearheaded the Howl for UWG project along with the Office of Development and Alumni Relations.
Six new wolf statues will also be on display at University Stadium on Saturday before being installed at their official locations, which are still being finalized. The artists for the new designs include Lauren Koch, an art major at UWG; Seth Fitts, a UWG art alumni; Madison DeFillipis, an art major at UWG; Lisa Matheson, a community artist and UWG alumni; Mandy Douthit, an art major at UWG; and Helen Helwig and Marcella Kuykendall, community artists from Scrap Bin. Sponsors for the new statues include Charlie and Sissy Almon, Southwire, Kroger and BP/Morgan Oil.
The Howl for UWG project, inspired by the popular Cows on Parade public art project, uses creative designs from regional artists and donations from sponsors to install life-size fiberglass wolves throughout the UWG campus and the Carrollton community. Proceeds from Howl for UWG benefit scholarship aid for the UWG Annual Fund Campaign, with a portion of the proceeds dedicated to providing scholarships for art majors. The Howl for UWG project completed phase one on Oct. 6, 2012, when the nine original wolf statues were released for public display.
For more information on Howl for UWG, please visit www.howlforuwg.com.
