This Friday in Washington DC a national memorial to World War One veterans by New Your sculptor Sabin Howard was unveiled. It’s located directly east of the White House lawn and sits in the midst of a marble plaza designed by architect… The prominent location marks an historic first in the Capitol’s recognition of a war previously overlooked in a sea of over 160 DC veteran monuments. However, the Washington Capitol Historic Commission met the wait with colossal rewarded by approving a 200 foot by 13 foot bronze sculpture of 38 individual figure that mark the events of “A Soldiers Jorney.”
The nation’s new WWI bronze memorial is the larges in the county and sits at the edge of 14th and Pennsylvania Streets surrounded by a marble plaza and with waterwall feature the inspiration of architect…
What artist would allow themselves a moment to image a monumental of thirty-eight life size bronze sculptured figures of historic representation and design.
Only through the making of an equally heroic artist, willing to spend nine years in the trenches to fight ‘the good battle’ to make his vision a reality. Sculptor Sabin Howard is the art hero willing to address bureaucratic red tape, venue, design complications and building process to design one of America’s largest bronze war memorials. Located prominently next to the White house, Howards sculptural journey first began with a 2019 interview by a soon to be architect (Name) who won competition for a new site development to showcase the first Washington DC memorial to commemorate World War I veterans.
The significance of the theme can not be understated. of it’s 30 dedicated statues, in Washington DC, non have been attributed to World War One. Sabin Howard’s ‘Journey of a Soldier’ marks the first public art recognition of the war and the lives so brutally lost. ‘Brutal,’ being the key term, war is ugly, lives are disrupted, men were lost and disfigured. There is nothing that strike fear to the core of a nation than the threat of a war, and there it is represented with honest the fall out; disfigurement, suffering and loss. Our people, Americans, sent to battle without the assurance of a plan or return to safety.
Sculptor does not turn away from the brutality of war or glorify it, but instead faces it right to core of its disillusionment and brutality. He sets a in bronze a truth, war is brutal, some may not return, those that do will be changed. We see this sentiment deeply expressed in the sensitivity of Howard’s design work in each of 38 figures for “The Soldier’s Journey.” It’s a meaningful and very powerful installation, especially for those of us with military connections.
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The central London site, also close to both the Commonwealth headquarters and statues of the late Queen’s parents, is considered the best choice.
The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Memorial is on the other side of the Mall, near Carlton Gardens.
Completed in 2009, it incorporates a Grade II-listed statue of George VI by William McMillan, unveiled by Elizabeth II in 1955, and a statue of the Queen Mother by Philip Jackson, which Her Majesty unveiled in 2009.
The Commonwealth Secretariat is based in Marlborough House, just off Pall Mall.
The decision was to have been announced by the Cabinet Office at the weekend, but was leaked to a tabloid newspaper.
Other sites considered included the fourth plinth at Trafalgar Square and Westminster Abbey, where Elizabeth II was crowned on June 2 1953.
The form the new memorial will take has not yet been decided, but the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee will now move the project into the design phase.
The committee is chaired by Lord Janvrin, 77, one of the late Queen’s most loyal and trusted aides. He served as her private secretary from 1999 until 2007.
He is considering proposals for both a permanent memorial and a national legacy programme that would recognise her life of service and aim to combine tradition with modernity.
Earlier this year, members of the committee travelled to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to canvass views and perspectives.
Lord Janvrin has held private audiences with both the King and the Prince of Wales since undertaking the UK-wide visits, and is thought to have updated them on the committee’s research and ideas.
The King is taking a “very close interest” in the project, and other members of the Royal family are being consulted.
The committee, which met for the first time in February at Buckingham Palace, is expected to announce the memorial in 2026, which would have been the late Queen’s hundredth birthday year.