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A Cold War-era stone memorial by the late Charleston sculptor Willard Hirsch was salvaged, restored and returned to a new home at The Citadel's Johnson Hagood Stadium. The work was done as part of The Southeastern Wildlife Exposition 's sculpture program. SEWE is known for its yearly event that draws 40,000 to Charleston.
But behind the scenes, the effort to promote art is ongoing year-round. The panel by Hirsch was built for an armory in the Upstate and depicts South Carolina soldiers from conflicts as early as the Indian Wars through World War II. Each soldier depicted has historically accurate uniforms and weapons as they appear to march in-step across nine eras.
Commissioned by the South Carolina, Army Hirsch created a plaster mold used to cast identical composite stone panels for armories across the state in the 1950s. The Willard Hirsch panel was removed from exterior walls at an armory in the Upstate. Efforts to salvage the 4-by-7-foot concrete panel began in 2021 during a renovation of the Clemson-area armory.
Through SEWE's public sculpture program, the piece was saved and brought to Charleston in 2022 to be restored. It was installed outside the Johnson Hagood Stadium in September, though it was officially unveiled to the public Nov. 18.
Art is the foundation of SEWE's mission, even though the yearly event has outgrown its original design to celebrate wildlife and art in new ways over the decades, said SEWE President and CEO John Powell. Nonstop and international flights are key to Charleston International's future. Here's why.
"That space outside the stadium has been vacant for as long as most of us can remember. It almost felt like that piece was destined to be there with how things fell into place," Powell said. "We knew if we placed a sculpture there, it had to not only check all the boxes but be symbolic to The Citadel's mission.
" The memorial piece may not be in the organization's typical realm of nature-oriented art, but it fits SEWE's underlying mission to preserve and promote public art, Powell added. "When most people think of SEWE, they think of our outdoor events. It can be forgotten that the core of those three days in February is art," Powell said.
"We gather extraordinary sculptures from all over the country in one place and there's nothing else like that." In 2023, SEWE estimated its economic impact was $32.7 million, and direct visitor spending for the weekend has been projected at nearly $18 million, according to a study conducted by the Office of Tourism Analysis in the School of Business at the College of Charleston.
The SEWE sculpture initiative added art installations to Mount Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park in 2019 as part of a larger trail envisioned throughout the Lowcountry. The six sculptures of animals indigenous to the Lowcountry along the marshes of the Cooper River highlight conservation, sustainability and local wildlife through art, Powell said. The Hirsch panel is now another stop on that trail.
Dual-branded hotel complex on Charleston's Upper King Street changes hands Staff at Clemson University helped package the panel to ship it to Charleston, where an engineering firm was tasked with figuring out how to hang the piece without cracking it. Throughout Hirsch's career, his works were commissioned at Charles Towne Landing in West Ashley, Brookgreen Gardens in Georgetown County, Clemson, the Charleston Library and other public spaces and galleries across the world. A panel sculpture by Willard Hirsch was salvaged and placed on display outside of The Citadel's Johnson Hagood Stadium.
Tiffany Silverman, director of Fine Arts at The Citadel, said said the panel was the perfect fit for the niche beneath the National Guard entrance to the stadium for the military college. Silverman said she hopes the addition of the Hirsch panel becomes a place for people to "reflect upon stories of past service to inspire future generations to engage in their community with honor.”.
