The deinstallation of the plaster version of late sculptor Walker Hancock's Pennsylvania Railroad War Memorial in preparation for its re-installation at the Cape Ann Museum.Photo: Cape Ann Museum
GLOUCESTER, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — After a $23-million-dollar fundraising campaign and a makeover, the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester is getting set for its grand reopening on June 30.
The museum has been closed for almost two years while undergoing renovations.
One of its feature exhibits is the re-installment of the 13-foot plaster version of sculptor Walker Hancock's Pennsylvania Railroad War Memorial, one of his most celebrated works.
It will be raised and secured on the museum's atrium wall.
Hancock (1901–1998) lived in Gloucester's Lanesville area and was a longtime advisor to the Cape Ann Museum.
Several of his most important works are in the museum's permanent collection.
His famous subjects include: Presidents George H.W. Bush, Abraham Lincoln, and James Madison; Vice Presidents Hubert Humphrey and Gerald Ford; poet Robert Frost; and General Douglas MacArthur.
His works are also exhibited at the Library of Congress, West Point, and the National Cathedral.
The actual Pennsylvania Railroad War Memorial sculpture is a 39-foot bronze commissioned by the Pennsylvania Railroad and exhibited at Philadelphia's Thirtieth Street Station.
Created between 1949 and 1952, the memorial depicts an angel lifting a fallen soldier; its base bears the names of more than 1,300 railroad employees who died in World War II.
The Cape Ann Museum is located at 27 Pleasant St. in Gloucester.