492. Lincoln on the Waterfront

I just got home from the unveiling (except it wasn't veiled) of Ed Hamilton's latest larger than life sculpture to grace Louisville, that of Abraham Lincoln, on the Waterfront, a little east of the overhead I-65. The statue shows a younger Lincoln that we are used to seeing, set off by four bas-relief depictions of different eras of Lincoln's life. It was a grand event emceed by Waterfront Development Director David Karem. The Louisville Orchestra was there, playing The National Anthem, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, and two Aaron Copeland pieces, Fanfare for the Common Man and Appalachian Spring. The event was held to coincide with the setting of the sun out to the west over the Ohio River, which was a beautiful sight. There were maybe 500 people close-by and another 200 to 300 elsewhere in the park. Mr. Hamilton offered a few words some of which were based on what Isaac Bernheim had to day when he dedicated his statue of Lincoln at the Public Library on York Street.

After a cold and rainy day, the skies cleared, the sun shone, and we were all reminded of why Louisville's downtown, and especially the Waterfront Park, first conceived in the early 1970s and still not quite finished, is such a wonderful place to be.

The picture at right is a small scale model of that which now graces the Waterfront.