A Bronze Statue of Wallace: A lasting legacy of 2013
On the 15th July 2012 the Wallace Memorial Fund, with the enthusiastic support of our Patron Bill Bailey and our Treasurer, Wallace's grandson Dick, began a campaign to raise £50,000 for a life-size bronze statue of Wallace to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Wallace’s death in 2013. The Fund's campaign closed 7 months later on the 16th February 2013 and exactly £25,000 was raised (£10,000 from Alan Smith, £11,732.19 from 73 other donors and a further £3,267.81 from Alan to make the total up to £25,000). Phase 2 of the fundraising campaign began in earnest in May and is being run by Entangled Bank Events and the Ancestor's Trail Several exciting educational events are being organised by these non-profit making organisations and proceeds from the sale of tickets to these will go towards paying for the other half of the statue. If you can't attend one of these events but would still like to make a donation then please click HERE.
Where will the statue be displayed?
The statue will be offered to the Natural History Museum (NHM), London and the plan is that it will be unveiled on the actual date of the anniversary of Wallace's death - 7th November 2013. If the London Museum is unable to accept the statue for whatever reason there are a number of other organisations with Wallace links which have expressed a keen interest in having it. A permanent home for it will be carefully selected - one which ensures its safe preservation and enables the greatest number of people possible to appreciate it.
Who will sculpt the statue?
The statue is currently being made by professional sculptor Anthony Smith and updates of his progress can be seen on the Wallace100 blog. Anthony produced a highly acclaimed statue of Charles Darwin as a student for Cambridge University in 2009 plus many other impressive works (see http://anthonysmithart.co.uk/). Soon a high proportion of the population of the UK will come into contact with his artwork (although they won't know it) as Anthony produced the design for the new £2.00 coin.
What will the statue look like?
The design of the statue is a secret, which will only be revealed when it is unveiled in November 2013. What we can say is that Wallace will be depicted as a young man aged 31 - 39, dressed for the tropics, with his insect collecting equipment – including his butterfly net, collecting box etc (see http://wallacefund.info/notes-wallace-statue).