Summit Statues

[AwakeEnergyScouter]

Someone couldn't quite commit to a style, it seems. Or perhaps really wanted to make a statue in Greek style, but needed clothes on the scout to show scoutness and then got complaints about nipples and genitals from someone.

I don't really get this statue either. No doubt the artist didn't mean to reference the scandal, probably because it hadn't broken yet, but you're right, @Eagle1993 - less brilliant overtones as things stand 😳

I'm guessing the man and the woman here are also supposed to be some kind of symbols that the scout is leading, and after seeing a second one I think I'm concluding that I prefer down-to-earth statues of scouts. The magic of scouting is ordinary. 🔮 Honoring scouts by depicting them with a map and compass is right on point. Maybe making a fire without a match. Greek antiquity or Asatrú don't quite connect. We specialize in the rubber meeting the road, in joining heaven and earth. 

[AwakeEnergyScouter]

6 hours ago, SiouxRanger said:

I have 4 grandchildren, the two oldest are girls.  I find no comfort in the idea that one of them may die because they could not make fire to warm themselves because they could not learn the skill that would save their life, being precluded from being a scout.

I used outdoor survival skills to help myself and my family survive the last round of freezing temperatures that hit south Texas that the state is clearly under prepared for despite it happening about every 10 years. (I notice native plants survived it, but plants from even further south didn't come back, so it's definitely a regular occurrence.)

We were among those who had power out the longest, but we had gear (my scout was the only kid in the whole neighborhood who was out playing in the snow having a great time) and knowledge. Our house leaks heat like a sieve despite our best efforts at improving energy efficiency, and the temperature inside the house was dropping about 1°C/hour. When the endpoint is -13, that's a problem. So, I set about making sure we were eating hot food (cooked outside not inside) and drinking hot drinks. Had to get water for both drinking and flushing also since our pipes froze. We all made it comfortably with full bellies, although it was scary for us adults.

Turns out, after talking to native Texan neighbors (not scouts), that most people here had no idea how relatively quickly you die from hypothermia, nor what the stages are. And a fair few of the ones who died took grills inside. When you're a scout from just below the Arctic Circle you absolutely know cold survival!

[RememberSchiff]

2 hours ago, Eagle1993 said:

I would have rather seen an actual female scout, but it is still better than the naked man following the boy scout statue.

There's an idea,,  replace the two adult figures with two  scout figures. 👍

Say if we cannot lose the wings, could we add a left ankle shackle with a broken chain connected to a mint cookie box?  

I do wonder how much money has been raised by statue sponsorship at Summit.

My $0.02,

[MikeS72]

3 hours ago, Eagle1993 said:

I would have rather seen an actual female scout, but it is still better than the naked man following the boy scout statue.

Where on earth is this, and who thought that would be a good image for BSA?????

[yknot]

3 minutes ago, MikeS72 said:

Where on earth is this, and who thought that would be a good image for BSA?????

That's the national scout memorial in Washington, DC, lol. If I remember correctly, it was installed in the early '60s -- which in scout years, would be like the 1930s --  so I guess that's why it is evocative of the imagery of that nationalistic era. The male and female are supposed to represent the support of American man and woman hood in scouting. Poor choice of depiction in my opinion as well but at least there are a lot of other statues of male boy scouts to view if you don't like that one. 

[Eagle94-A1]

From Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_Scout_Memorial

Quote

The three figures represent various concepts. According to the National Park Service the Boy Scout "represents the aspirations of all past, present, and future Scouts throughout the world. The male figure exemplifies physical, mental, and moral fitness, love of country, good citizenship, loyalty, honor, and courage. He carries a helmet, a symbol of masculine attire. The female figure symbolizes enlightenment with the love of God and fellow man, justice, freedom, and democracy. She holds the eternal flame of God's Holy Spirit."^[2]

The sculpture was founded by Modern Art Foundry in New York.^[1]...

....The sculpture sits at the location of the 1937 National Scout Jamboree, the first jamboree. It was dedicated on November 7, 1964 and accepted by Associate Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark who celebrated his 50th anniversary of being an Eagle Scout on that day.^[2]

Cannot find the info doing a quick search, it may be on the  hiking trail brochure we did in DC, but I read that the artist wanted a Neoclassical look on par with some other statues in DC.

[AwakeEnergyScouter]

Well, at least the scout isn't also lightly draped in a curtain then 🤦🏼‍♀️ if the subject can't be naked for you to get it, that style doesn't work for that particular statue.

I think this is a great example of why symbols are needed in certain kinds of art. I don't associate helmets with masculinity and I would never have guessed that the flame in the woman's hand was some kind of Christian symbol. Like the wings in the original statue under discussion, you need an explanation to get it, so you can't see the art and immediately be moved. This immediately lessens the impact of the art.

Since our shirts with badges and neckerchiefs are our symbols as far as something you can put on a person, a number of art styles are then immediately ruled out for statues of scouts IMNSHO.

[SiouxRanger]

6 hours ago, Eagle1993 said:

I would have rather seen an actual female scout, but it is still better than the naked man following the boy scout statue.

In the middle, Eisenhower? And who would portray anyone or anything larger than him?

So, if it isn't Eisenhower, isn't the pinnacle of scouting an educated, benevolent, self-sufficient scout?

So, who are the other two?  Appearing to coddle the scout.

Did someone at National approve this?

[SiouxRanger]

5 hours ago, AwakeEnergyScouter said:

I used outdoor survival skills to help myself and my family survive the last round of freezing temperatures that hit south Texas that the state is clearly under prepared for despite it happening about every 10 years. (I notice native plants survived it, but plants from even further south didn't come back, so it's definitely a regular occurrence.)

We were among those who had power out the longest, but we had gear (my scout was the only kid in the whole neighborhood who was out playing in the snow having a great time) and knowledge. Our house leaks heat like a sieve despite our best efforts at improving energy efficiency, and the temperature inside the house was dropping about 1°C/hour. When the endpoint is -13, that's a problem. So, I set about making sure we were eating hot food (cooked outside not inside) and drinking hot drinks. Had to get water for both drinking and flushing also since our pipes froze. We all made it comfortably with full bellies, although it was scary for us adults.

Turns out, after talking to native Texan neighbors (not scouts), that most people here had no idea how relatively quickly you die from hypothermia, nor what the stages are. And a fair few of the ones who died took grills inside. When you're a scout from just below the Arctic Circle you absolutely know cold survival!

And that is why Scouting is so valuable.  Not lost in the woods in a blizzard, nor a survivor of a canoeing accident in Canada, or airplane crash in the Andes.  But just right here where I sit, in a house in South Texas. CRISIS!

The Program develops/instills knowledge, insight, judgment, and wisdom.

For reasons I do not understand, I have never seen an instructor mentioning WHY the information they present is important.

 

[HashTagScouts]

47 minutes ago, SiouxRanger said:

In the middle, Eisenhower? And who would portray anyone or anything larger than him?

So, if it isn't Eisenhower, isn't the pinnacle of scouting an educated, benevolent, self-sufficient scout?

So, who are the other two?  Appearing to coddle the scout.

Did someone at National approve this?

Congress commissioned it- it was installed in 1964 

[RememberSchiff]

"United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Tom C. Clark is standing at the speaker's podium and is speaking at the dedication of the Boy Scout Memorial located at the Ellipse at 15th and Constitution Avenue, NW, in Washington, D.C. The memorial was sculpted by Donald DeLue and is in full view. At this event, Justice Clark was celebrating the 50th anniversary of his being an Eagle Scout."

Source:

https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/photograph-records/2012-2316

Edited July 21, 2023 by RememberSchiff

[RememberSchiff]

4 hours ago, MikeS72 said:

Where on earth is this, and who thought that would be a good image for BSA?????

It appears Congress.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/86th-congress/senate-bill/602

https://www.congress.gov/bill/86th-congress/senate-bill/602/text

 

"There are some inscriptions at the Memorial. Running around the rim of the pool is one that says:

In grateful tribute to the men and women whose generosity, devotion, and leadership have brought Scouting to the nation’s youth and to honor all members of the Boys Scouts of America who in days of peace and times of peril have done their duty to God and their country this memorial was authorized by the Congress of the United States and erected in recognition of the fiftieth anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America."

Source:

https://dcphotoguide.com/boy-scout-memorial/

Edited July 21, 2023 by RememberSchiff

[qwazse]

I like the National memorial. I get the point of the the ideal man and woman behind the scout (more Adam and Eve than Greek or Norse, but still trying to harken on multiple traditions). My regret is that they are not full nudes as one would expect.

I, too, would have preferred the female scout statue to be more down to earth. I think the body shape does not reflect the average 16 year old, but that could also be the camera angle.

[AwakeEnergyScouter]

1 hour ago, qwazse said:

I, too, would have preferred the female scout statue to be more down to earth. I think the body shape does not reflect the average 16 year old, but that could also be the camera angle.

That's another good point. I appreciated scouts as a place where I was not at all sexualized. My ability to carry a pack, raise a tent quickly, and dig a latrine were more prized than my looks or body... Doing was more valuable than being, and not just among all-girl groups. That was nice. Really nice. Men also being around made it more valuable, because life doesn't play out in an all-female space.

[RememberSchiff]

"On the US Thanksgiving Day November 23, 2023 an all-new Snoopy float will debut - Beagle Scout Snoopy, as announced during the 'Snoopy Lives it Up!' panel here at San Diego Comic-Con 2023. "

Source which includes a model of new float.

https://www.thepopverse.com/snoopy-peanuts-float-macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-2023

Perhaps another statue in the planning for Summit?

 

Update 2024: Beagle Scouts 50th Anniversary,  licensed by YMCA

https://www.licenseglobal.com/character/peanuts-worldwide-s-beagle-scouts-50th-anniversary

 

Edited January 8 by RememberSchiff