The sculptor behind Juneau\u2019s iconic \u201cHard Rock Miners\u201d sculpture has died.<\/p>\n
Edward Seth Way was curator of exhibits at the Alaska State Museum when he was commissioned to create a piece of art to celebrate Juneau\u2019s centennial.<\/p>\n
Way\u2019s resulting life-sized bronze sculpture was installed in 1981 in Marine Park and has been the subject of countless photographs since.<\/p>\n
Way\u2019s wife, Gloria, remembers the three years of work it took to complete. \u201cWe rented somebody else\u2019s garage,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
At the time, the couple and their daughter were living in a home near the Governor\u2019s Mansion.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did it there (in the rented garage), and then he had to transport it down to Oakland to a foundry there,\u201d she said. \u201cThen he was down there a number of months, casting the bronze and doing all of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gloria recalled how Way created a unique plasticine formula that hardened so tough that Way had to sculpt with a blowtorch in one hand to make the material soft enough to work. \u201cAs he took the blowtorch away, it would harden up right away,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Way was born Jan. 14, 1940 to Seth Edwin Way and Bertha Reinell Way in Everett, Washington. He grew up in and around Everett, graduating from Anacortes High School in 1958.<\/p>\n
He was a state wrestling champion and all-star football player, but he accumulated a love of art after growing up around his grandfather\u2019s boatworks.<\/p>\n
He studied art at the University of Washington and the Art Center of Los Angeles, eventually working as an architectural illustrator and designer in both Washington and Alaska.<\/p>\n
Way married Gloria Houston in Juneau in 1972, and in 1974 they had a daughter, Jennifer.<\/p>\n
After completing \u201cHard Rock Miners,\u201d Way built custom furniture and worked as a museum consultant.<\/p>\n
When the State Office Building was under construction, Way supervised the installation of the towering totem pole that still stands in the building\u2019s atrium. Gloria recalls how Way had to estimate the exact spot for the totem\u2019s anchoring bolts, which had to be drilled through the concrete walls of an earthquake-hardened elevator shaft. \u201cThen they all crossed their fingers when it came time to erect that thing and hoped the holes were in the right places,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Way also supervised the installation of the Eagle Tree in the Alaska State Museum. That permanent exhibit inspired a replica that has a place of pride in the State Library, Archives and Museum now under construction.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would\u2019ve liked to have known that because he was afraid they\u2019d tear it all down,\u201d Gloria said.<\/p>\n
Gloria recalled that Way didn\u2019t care for abstract art in public, where pepole might not appreciate it, and he was outspoken in his objection to pieces like Nimbus, now installed in front of the SLAM.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Juneau\u2019s history, there\u2019s been some pieces of art that have been completely abstract,\u201d she said. \u201cHe (didn\u2019t) think that was an idea for public art.<\/p>\n
In 1986, the Way family retired and moved to Port Townshend, Washington, before moving again to Washington\u2019s Rogue River Valley in 1996.<\/p>\n
Way was diagnosed with cancer in early 2011 and died Oct. 7 in Medford, Oregon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The sculptor behind Juneau\u2019s iconic \u201cHard Rock Miners\u201d sculpture has died. Edward Seth Way was curator of exhibits at the Alaska State Museum when he was commissioned to create a piece of art to celebrate Juneau\u2019s centennial. Way\u2019s resulting life-sized bronze sculpture was installed in 1981 in Marine Park and has been the subject of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":426,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[75],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-25882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/426"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25882\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25882"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=25882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}