Film has clues about U of I sculpture’s real color

URBANA — An 8-mm color film shot in the 1940s is offering some clues about the original color of a bronze statue that is a beloved landmark at the University of Illinois.

The 84-year-old Alma Mater statue of a robed woman flanked by figures celebrating “Learning” and “Labor” was removed for cleaning and restoration in August 2012. A heavy buildup of blue-green patina has disguised its original color for decades.

During the restoration work, there’s been some debate about whether the original bronze will turn out to be brown, gray or a mixture of the colors.

There are no color photos from around the time of the 1929 dedication of the statue, created by artist Lorado Taft. But a color film shot 70 years ago by engineering graduate Robert Kallal has surfaced. It shows Kallal with friends and relatives at a U of I commencement and includes shots of Alma, then about 16 years old.

Though, Kodachrome film doesn’t degenerate the way later color film did, the images are not definitive.

But university archivist William Maher tells The (Champaign) News-Gazette (http://bit.ly/1aUTi08 ) that it appears to show Alma with a “gunmetal” color.

Christa Deacy-Quinn, a member of the U of I preservation team, said the exact shade won’t be known until the entire sculpture is cleaned and coated.

“Unfortunately the piece has had so much corrosion on it, by the time we started to conserve it, it was very hard to tell,” said Deacy-Quinn. “We can’t go back in time and actually look at it as it was.”

The statue was removed for repairs in August 2012. Now restoration work to fix extensive water damage and corrosion is continuing at a Forest Park studio. During the project, workers disassembled the piece, removing nearly 1,000 bolts that were used to hold 48 sections together.

Alma Mater has stood at Wright and Green streets on campus since 1962, but was originally installed behind Foellinger Auditorium — where the film was shot.

The restoration project has cost about $360,000 — more than triple the initial projection.