First Bobcat statue to prowl campus Monday

Students will soon be encountering bobcats on their morning walks to class.

Four Bobcat statues purchased by Georgia College to raise school spirit will be unveiled one by one starting Feb. 14.

“As they are completed, they will be placed and we’ll do a dedication as they’re ready,” said Vice President of University Advancement, Amy Amason.

The university originally bought six statues, but so far only four have sponsors – Georgia College SGA, The Brick owner Frank Pendergast, Mitch Melder of Melder Properties LLC, and Frank and Joann Chambers with Wilkinson County Bank.

Manoj Kuninti

The newly painted Bobcat statues will soon appear across campus. Bobcat statues will be placed at select locations as they are completed. SGA’s statue will be unveiled as a kickoff for Homecoming week.

“We are planning on holding a Bobcat statue unveiling ceremony on Monday, Feb. 14 at 2:30 p.m.,” said SGA press secretary Meg Harth.

The statues were first announced last spring with the original debut date being pushed back to the first week of November, but they have yet to be shown off.

“It has taken longer to get them painted and get the materials to paint them,” Amason said.

Georgia College’s Department of Art, including Department Chair Bill Fisher, has been hard at work getting the statues ready.

“We are applying surface treatment to them,” Fisher said. “I’m working on one with green mosaic tile from top to bottom.”

Rebecca Ezell, a graduate student in art education, was volunteered by her teacher in class to work on the statues.

“Bill Fisher came into our class asking for help, and my teacher asked me to help paint,” Ezell said. “I helped paint the one that displays the Front Campus architecture. I plan on going back again to help do more detailing on the statue.”

The statues were created by the company Cowpainters, but the supplies and labor needed to decorate the statues were provided by the Department of Art.

Submitted by Tim Vacula

From left, students Rebecca Ezell and Chelsea Oglesby diligently paint one of the new Bobcat statues. There are currently six statues and four sponsors. The fiberglass material requires many coats of paint moving the expected release date from November to Feb.14. The Department of Art was given the task of decorating each statue.

The Bobcat statues are made of fiberglass and measure a height of 30 inches high and 50 inches in length.

Office of University Advancement played a big role in making Wilkinson County Bank’s Chairman Frank Chambers’ idea of the statues turn into a reality.

The statues have gotten a great deal of support not only from those on campus but from the outside community.

The individual designs for the Bobcat statues were chosen through a community-wide contest run by the university.

The Bobcat statues are now being held in the garage behind the Museum of Fine Arts while the artwork is completed. Once finished, the statues will be placed on Front Campus, West Campus and the Centennial Center.

“The SGA statue will sit outside the den,” Harth said.

The statues’ presence on campus are to symbolize school pride and the ties Georgia College has to the rest of the Milledgeville community.

Julia Allen, a senior painting major, also helped paint the statues and agrees with the symbolism.

“I just came to do what I could for Georgia College and to come represent my school well,” Allen said. “Students and faculty are putting in a great deal of time on these statues.”

Posted by Courtney Murrah on Feb 10 2011. Filed under Lead stories, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.