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Friday, September 30,1977
University Daily Kansan
Staff Photo by GEORGE MILLENER
Monumental project
Eldson Tefft, professor of art, uses a ladda to the top of a 10-foot statue of Moses he is working on in Learned Hall. Tefft has
been working on the statue 10 years and says he isn't sure when it will be completed. When it is done, the statue will be placed in front of a stained-glass window at Smith Hall.
KU's Moses statue progresses
Staff Writer
By DIANE PORTER
Wearing a plaster-stained green sculptor's apron over a conventional shirt, Eldon Tefft, professor of art, moved quietly into the country, instructing one student after another.
Turning and nodding, he talked about his continuing work on the 10-foot statue of Moses he is doing for the University of Kansas.
It's a massive work, and it's been 10 years now," he said, "when 'Will it be done? When we finish it. We could be doing the final nesting next summer if everything was right."
"That statue had to be large to relate to all that space," Teft said. "It won't overpower the viewer if he can relate it to the background."
The statue, now in Learned Hall, eventually will be placed in front of the stained-glass wall outside Smith Hall, which houses the department of religion.
Work on the bronze statue is in its next-to-last stage, which consists of molding wax around a working model of the statue. Then, the statue will be made and the bronze will be poured in it.
THE STATUE is based on the official KU seal, Tefta said. The seal shows Moses, the Hebrew leader, kneeling in front of a burning bush that symbolizes God.
the legs were moved out and the arms now are crossed in front of the statue.
Another reason for having the arms crossed rather than with the palms together is to not distinguish between Western and Eastern religions, he said.
"We're trying to finish, despite all our obstacles," Tefft said. "Getting the new foundy into operation and working with the National Sculpture Center takes up time that could be used on the statue, and teaching commitments take up the rest. It only worked on for a few hours a week because of this."
The statue will have small openings through the bronze, which will permit the viewer to relate it to the window behind it, he said.
Tefft also said that by having a hollow statue with openings, the internal volume, as well as the outside surface, would be highlighted. Also, it would be almost impossible to move a statue that size if it were solid bronze, he said.
"WE HOPE to move it immediately after completion," he said. "Perhaps it would be more realistic to estimate the summer after next."
Tefft has done other University work, including a portrait of Skipper Williams, a former Lawrence businessman who contributed money to KU's track program. He will give a talk on evaluation by a committee. The portrait will be a part of the Skipper Williams memorial.
Tefft has also sculpted bots of former chancellors W. Clarke Wescow, Frank
Preparation bike ride on Sunday
The warm-up tours will begin at 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at the South Park Gazebo. There is no entry fee for the rides. No route has been drawn up yet.
Bicyclists who plan to ride in an 89-mile bicycle can get in shape by riding a warmer-out bike.
"If riders can handle these 30 to 45 mile warm-up rides, they should be able to handle the Octoginta." Gene Wee, head of Mt. Oread Bicycle Club, said yesterday.
Leff has had the help of more than 100 of his sculpture students in the 10-years of his career.
Strong, Franklin D. Murphy, and Francis H.
Strong, Jayahawk statue in front of
Strong Hall.
"I won't get paid for the work, or at least more than a token fee, because the statue really cost more than they (the University) will pay. But I'll get is the experience. But it's worth it."
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Redevelopment proposed
By STEVE PARSONS
Given the impetus that a Lawrence City Hall might be built in the northern downtown area, a local architecture firm has agreed to develop a program to reinforce business interests in the area.
Staff Writer
However, the Kansas attorney general's office has declared this use of tax money to be unconstitutional, Wildgen said, because it has said that using this tax money to buy back bonds would be illegally diverting tax money to corporate bonds.
Bog Gould, of the Design Build architectural firm, presented the Lawrence City Commission Tuesday with the first phase of a plan to coordinate redevelopment of parts of the North Central Business District.
The district is the area bounded by Tennessee, Seventh and Pennsylvania streets and the Kansas River and includes the Bowersock Mills area, a proposed site of the National Bank Tower located on the third and fourth floors of the First National Bank Tower.
GOULD SAID THE money would be used to create marketing tools. These tools would include photography and social media, Gould said could be publicly exhibited to provide "a clear visual image of the target area to commissioners, landowners, potential investors and the citizens of awareness."
Gould said yesterday that the first phase would cost the city $2,000 plus the cost of
He said the program worked by paying the difference between the current tax on the property and the tax on the same property after improvement. The would be used to buy bonds afterwards after the debt was issued and after the improvement was completed.
He said the marketing tools would help him locate federal, state, city and private funding sources for more detailed planning, support or construction of area improvements.
Bonds would be issued by being sold to major investors throughout the country. The money from these bonds would provide capital to buy and build on the blighted lots.
Wilden said that the city of Topeka is now firing a marriage in court so the couple can be free from debt and not been deemed
WILDGEN SAID the tax increment program was a method for financing blighted downtown areas. He said portions of the North Central Business District were
Dave Evans, Gould's partner in the firm, said that the emphasis for this phase would be on the aesthetic improvement of the area. He said "people places," such as plazas and access routes to the river, would make it more than just a business area.
Phase two of Gould's program would use acquired funding for coordination of designs, for more detailed planning and for evaluation of suggested plans.
Gould's first contact has been with the city. Mike Wilden, assistant city manager, said the city commission was inclined to favor the plan.
Gould said that during phase one he would contact those with interests in the area to discuss his plan.
He said the city probably would make no decision about Gould's program until the location of the city hall was determined. The city did not attend during Tuesday night's city commission meeting.
Wildgen said that the city would need a program such as this one if it wanted to take
GOULD SAID HE already had contacted the National Endowment for the Arts to learn how a grant could be obtained through its "Livable Cities" program.
The "Livable Cities" program can provide up to $30,000 for planning enhancement of community areas. Such a grant must be matched in local funds equaling 50 per cent of the granted amount. A 'Livable' grant cannot be used for construction.
He said that even if the tax increment program was judged to be unconstitutional, the city probably would accept Gould's proposal—at least the first phase of it.
Gould and Wildgen both said that the program was to be used only as a guide and motivation for improvement of the area, not as an unchangeable rule.
advantage of a state tax increment program.
Library lending expanded
The number of books and periodicals available to University of Kansas students at Watson Library will increase as a result of a new interlibrary lending program between KU and Kansas State University. Jim Ranz, dean of libraries, said yesterday.
"What's great about this program is that it is not an attempt by the schools to cut back on the amount of money we spend," he said. "We are going to restructure our purchasing, enabling us to increase the number of publications available to both schools."
Ranz said the program would eliminate
the need for software in publications purchased
by the two showcases.
Each library will grant the other top priority in considering loan requests, he said. A supplemental courier service between Manhattan and Lawrence will enable the two libraries to process most requests within 24 hours.
'Now, they will run four times a week so we can provide next-day service,' he said.
Ranz said that he had consulted with Chancellor Archie Dykes and Ron Calgaard, vice chancellor for academic affairs, about the viability of the interlibrary lending program.
"It was our collective opinion that the prairie should improve the service the library can provide."
In the past, the couriers made only two trins a week.
The book-lending program will concentrate on individual volumes or on
Ranz said the money-saving measures result of soaring costs that librarian in general
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collections costing more that $800, enabling the libter to make more efficient use of the libraries.
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published each year," Ranz said. "We need to make the most of our funds to keep up with the number of purchases we must make."
"The rising costs of books is compounded by the rapidly rising number of books
Both schools have agreed to cooperate on purchasing decisions, he said, but neither is obligated to buy something just because the other wants it.