Sculpture to honor classic Kinnick score By: Bryan Bamonte - The Daily Iowan Posted: 10/26/05 It's a game that belongs to the old-timers. Not your father's game, but his father's game. Six and a half decades ago, Iowa defeated top-ranked Notre Dame, 7-6, in an old-school, rough-and-tough duel on Nov. 11, 1939. Nile Kinnick sprinted to the end zone to capture the victory and later the Heisman Trophy. He also kicked the extra point in the classic Iowa win. Now, everyone will have a permanent reminder of the significance of Kinnick's score - Larry Nowlan, a Vermont sculptor, is working on a display of the historic touchdown. "You have the personal interest in the subject matter, generally," he said. "And then to be commissioned to do a sculpture of somebody who means so much to so many is a great honor that any sculptor would cherish." The 18-foot long, 9-foot high bronze sculpture will be placed in the south concourse of Kinnick Stadium in 2007. The display of the 1939 game will be a relief statue, meaning it will be installed in the wall of the south concourse to give the portrait depth. The piece will supplement a statue of Kinnick with a book cradled in his right arm and a jersey draped over his left shoulder. Nowlan, who resides in Windsor, Vt., is also the sculptor of the standing Kinnick piece that will be unveiled for the 2006 season opener. Based on a famous photograph of the play, his piece will be "visually pleasing" - all 11 players faces will be visible. The 40-year-old was chosen in 2004 to do the project by the Art in State Buildings Commission and UI Museum of Art curator Pamela Trimpe. Nowlan's previous work includes Jackie Gleason's "Honeymooners" character and a statue of Ralph Kramden in New York City. "They called me, and within two weeks, I was out there at a meeting with the architects, the designers, and project managers," he said. A self-proclaimed huge sports fan, Nowlan said he spent his childhood in Philadelphia attending sporting events. He attended the Iowa-Purdue game in 2004 and said his visits to Iowa City have been tremendous. "Oh my God, from the time I got off the plane, everybody I talked to was about that," Nowlan said. "I rode back on the plan to Chicago with a fellow who went to Iowa, who was about 12 when Kinnick was in college, and he knew him from the neighborhood." Nowlan couldn't capture the significance of the piece in words. "I couldn't pretend to understand what it means to the people of Iowa," he said. "It's beyond my comprehension, but what I do know is people have called, e-mailed, and even traveled to my studio just to see it, so that to me tells me the significance." E-mail DI reporter Bryan Bamonte at: bryan-bamonte@uiowa.edu © Copyright 2007 Daily Iowan

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Sculpture to honor classic Kinnick score

By: Bryan Bamonte - The Daily Iowan

Posted: 10/26/05

It's a game that belongs to the old-timers. Not your father's game, but his father's game.

Six and a half decades ago, Iowa defeated top-ranked Notre Dame, 7-6, in an old-school, rough-and-tough duel on Nov. 11, 1939. Nile Kinnick sprinted to the end zone to capture the victory and later the Heisman Trophy. He also kicked the extra point in the classic Iowa win.

Now, everyone will have a permanent reminder of the significance of Kinnick's score - Larry Nowlan, a Vermont sculptor, is working on a display of the historic touchdown.

"You have the personal interest in the subject matter, generally," he said. "And then to be commissioned to do a sculpture of somebody who means so much to so many is a great honor that any sculptor would cherish."

The 18-foot long, 9-foot high bronze sculpture will be placed in the south concourse of Kinnick Stadium in 2007. The display of the 1939 game will be a relief statue, meaning it will be installed in the wall of the south concourse to give the portrait depth.

The piece will supplement a statue of Kinnick with a book cradled in his right arm and a jersey draped over his left shoulder. Nowlan, who resides in Windsor, Vt., is also the sculptor of the standing Kinnick piece that will be unveiled for the 2006 season opener.

Based on a famous photograph of the play, his piece will be "visually pleasing" - all 11 players faces will be visible.

The 40-year-old was chosen in 2004 to do the project by the Art in State Buildings Commission and UI Museum of Art curator Pamela Trimpe. Nowlan's previous work includes Jackie Gleason's "Honeymooners" character and a statue of Ralph Kramden in New York City.

"They called me, and within two weeks, I was out there at a meeting with the architects, the designers, and project managers," he said.

A self-proclaimed huge sports fan, Nowlan said he spent his childhood in Philadelphia attending sporting events. He attended the Iowa-Purdue game in 2004 and said his visits to Iowa City have been tremendous.

"Oh my God, from the time I got off the plane, everybody I talked to was about that," Nowlan said. "I rode back on the plan to Chicago with a fellow who went to Iowa, who was about 12 when Kinnick was in college, and he knew him from the neighborhood."

Nowlan couldn't capture the significance of the piece in words.

"I couldn't pretend to understand what it means to the people of Iowa," he said. "It's beyond my comprehension, but what I do know is people have called, e-mailed, and even traveled to my studio just to see it, so that to me tells me the significance."

E-mail DI reporter Bryan Bamonte at:

bryan-bamonte@uiowa.edu