Newsboy Sculpture
And Now For Part 1 and 2 of The Newsboy Sculpture Video
“Artist Bridgette Mongeon shares the process behind the mold making, and casting of the life-size bronze newsboys. The artwork was originally created for the Texas Press Association. The life-size sculpture, second in the edition of ten has been created for the Tabor City Tribune and “Billy” the newsboy perpetually hawks their historical headline. The artist searches for eight more historical headlines to be carved in bronze.”
More information about the Newsboy sculpture can be found in video The Newsboy Sculpture- Part Two and a complete journal is documented on her website. If you missed The Newsboy Sculpture- Part One you can find that here.
Newsboy Goes to Canada!
The best part of the newsboy sculpture is that it consistently becomes an added part of the celebration of history. The Newsgroup in Canada purchased the sculpture to honor those involved in the celebration of the 100th birthday. Here is the copy that they sent, just in case anyone else is interested in the history.
______________________________________________________________________________
Monday is our 100th Birthday!
The story of the O’Brien family is a great one, as the first pioneer in our business in Canada.
E.H. O’Brien was born in 1886, and left school in Grade 6 to support his family.
Ed O’Brien started his business on the 26th of November, 1907, with the Toronto Daily Star as a part time operation with ten dealers. At the same time, he was working in a cigar factory making cigars. The business resided in a small office on King Street East in Hamilton, with about 150 square feet of floor space which contained a desk and a telephone. Deliveries were made on a child’s wagon.
In 1909 the business had grown to the point that Ed went into it on a full time basis. He rented a horse and bought a wagon for deliveries. The “Hearst” franchise was acquired at this time. In 1914, the “Curtis” franchise was acquired, and in 1916 the first truck was purchased at a cost of about $600.
By 1918 the business had grown with acquisitions of Muncey, Macleans, Consolidated Press and others. In 1921 Ed purchased the F.J. Roy News Company. At this point, Ed was an earlier consolidator, as all independent franchises in existence at that time were acquired.
In 1923, publishers supplied E.H. O’Brien for the Brantford, Ontario market as the former operator had gone out of business. A new company was formed, General News and Novelty Company, which supplied over 150 dealers in Western Ontario.
In 1934, Ed started the National News Company in Ottawa, Ontario, and subsequently purchased the other independent news companies in Ottawa.
Close behind E.H. O’Brien, was H.H. Marshall, who founded a newspaper and magazine distribution business in Halifax in 1908. Harry Marshall was born in 1883 and started his career as a newspaper boy. By the turn of the century Harry had several routes in Halifax, and had opened a men’s apparel store, along with his newspaper business in 1906.
As they say, “The Rest is History!”
Today we are proud to continue in the traditions of E.H. O’Brien, H.H. Marshall and family to supply over 45,000 customers in Canada and the United States. We continue to serve our fine publishers of magazines and books, delivering knowledge daily to millions of Canadians and Americans.
A New Article About My Work- Newsboy
There is a new article about the newsboy that can be found on this link
It is a pdf, scroll to page 4 North Carolina Press Association newsletter. (This link no longer available.)
Here is quote from the article written by Brian Rapp,
Rusty Carter, Horaces’ son and president of the Tribune’s parent company, Atlantic Corp.
“A lot of times you never know what you’ll get with a sculpture unless you buy it off the shelf, but it turned out better than I ever expected. We’ve already gotten an extraordinary amount of comment about it from all over the region.”
An Update on Number Two in The Edition of The Life-Size Newsboy Bronze
The Meyer Gallery in Utah contacted me about the edition of the life-size bronze Newsboy. Their client wanted to buy one in the edition to honor the Tabor City Tribune and the former editor/publisher Walter Horace Carter. They inquired to see if the Newsboy could be recreated with a replica of the Tabor City 1953 newspaper announcing their winning of the Pulitzer. That is where the idea of changing each newspaper for the rest of the newsboy life-size bronze edition came from.
According to the 1953 Tabor City Tribune newspaper that was sent to me, they were the first weekly paper to receive such an honor and shared it with Whiteville News-Reporter. Both papers were chosen for their crusade against the Ku Klux Klan, quite an impressive and courageous accomplishment, in this artist’s opinion. I am thrilled to be a part of this place in history.
The client sent me a copy of the paper. I had to modify the design of the newspaper so that it would translate to bronze, but was able to keep the look, headline and masthead of the paper. To recreate this paper for the bronze a wax is poured for each of the papers that are a part of the sculpture. There are some under his arm, one in his hand and some at his feet. Each must be carved in the wax to represent the new paper and headline. Here you will see the copy of the newspaper, my marker layout, the wax and how all of that transferred into the details of the bronze papers. Of course the back of the paper remains as I created it with the tribute to Skinney and others based on the historical article written by history professor Vincent Digirolamo.
I am still waiting for photographs of the placement of the sculpture and official comments.
Follow the newsboy category to see more photographs and to read more about Horace Carter, Tabor Tribune and Tabor City. I am happy to announce that there are several articles coming out about this piece of artwork and its placement. I will be interviewed by Press Time on Wednesday. This is wonderful because there are 8 more in the life size edition left for purchase, and I would like to sell them.
I’ll post more about the publicity later.
Artist Carves History in Bronze
I have been working on creating some new pages to my web site. The newsboy gallery can be found by clicking on the Newsboy category
And I have uploaded pictures of the newsboy placed in Austin. There are no pictures of the number two in the edition, as my client has not given it to his father yet.
I have been sending out press releases about creating the newspaper to match newspapers in history. I’m hoping to sell out the edition of the newsboy, there are eight left, and creating newspapers throughout history. I really would like to see one of these in Buffalo, N.Y. and also one in Washington.
The press release follows.
Newspaper Headlines Through History are Being Carved in Bronze.
Is it not interesting to think about which newspaper headlines stand out in the history of our country? What newspaper headline would stand out in the publication of your own newspaper?
In 2005 Texas based sculptor Bridgette Mongeon was commissioned by the Texas Press Association, to capture an important time in newspaper history—the age of newsboys. You can almost hear the cries of, “Extra! Extra! Read all about it…” from the mouth of the bronze newsboy who is caught in full stride as he hawks his newspapers on the street corner. The artwork, originally created for the Texas State Capitol building, presently resides outside the offices of the Texas Press Association in Austin, Texas. A table-top bronze of the Newsboy was also created as a limited edition art for home or office.
In January of 2007, Ms. Mongeon was contacted by a client wanting to know if the life-size bronze newsboy was part of a limited edition, and if it was available for purchase as a gift for his father, a former newspaper publisher. He inquired if the newspaper that the Newsboy was selling could be recreated to resemble his father’s newspaper capturing the year they were awarded the Pulitzer Prize. The artist created a bronze Newsboy to the client’s specifications, and it became number two of this edition of ten. It will soon be presented to his father. The story of the Pulitzer Prize winning paper is intriguing, but cannot be revealed until after the surprise bronze is presented.
The idea of carving and capturing history in bronze so intrigued Ms. Mongeon that she is committing to do the same thing for the remaining editions of the bronze Newsboys and is presently seeking newspapers and placement for the remaining eight life-size bronze sculptures.
Upon request, the new masthead and headline are painstakingly carved into the front of each paper. There are several papers in the sculpture that need to be changed, there is a newspaper the Newsboy holds, several under his arm, and a stack at his feet. The back of the newspaper remains the same, a subhead line that reads, “In Memory of Skinny and Others.” This was created from a historical article that the artist read about how newsboys would take out an ad in the paper if one of their own died. It is the artist’s way of posthumously recognizing the contribution of the newsboys.
When the artist is asked if there is a specific newspaper in history or place that she would like to see one of the bronzes installed she replied, “I live in Texas but was born in Buffalo, New York. I would love to see a Newsboy placed in my hometown, and if I could pick the place, I would love to see one near the Albright Knox Art Gallery. To have one in Washington D.C. would also be great.” The Newsboy is not Mongeon’s only newspaper related art sculpture. She was also commissioned by the Houston Chronicle to create a small sculpture of Jesse Jones that is given as The Jesse Award to outstanding individuals at the Houston Chronicle.
A writer as well as a sculptor Ms. Mongeon has a heart for journalism and communication and has created an online journal of the entire eight-month process of creating the life-size bronze Newsboy and small Newsboy collectible. The journal extends from research to casting and placement of each of the pieces in the edition. She has added an educational section to help students and teachers learn and teach about art, journalism, history and even politics, all relating to the bronze Newsboy. The journal is rich in online resources for further education. The sculptor expresses a desire to be involved in the education of the children in each area that the Newsboy is placed. “The Newsboy is not only a symbol for the newspaper industry, it is a symbol of the strength of children. These newsboys and girls changed history with their newspaper strike of 1899, which affected the child labor laws. Just because you are small doesn’t mean you can’t make a difference, and this is an important concept for children to learn,” state Ms. Mongeon.
The Newsboy journal can be found at the artists’ web site located at www.creativesculpture.com. If you are interested in one of the remaining editions of the Newsboy and have a headline to match, Ms. Mongeon would love to hear from you and can be reached at her contact form. Then together the publisher and artist will carve history in bronze.
This article/press release can be used word for word. If you would like to interview the artist or require more information for a story please contact the artist.
A New Life Size Newsboy
Another life size newsboy was ordered. We have been working on it the last few months. I went to the foundry yesterday to take some photographs of the work. This new bronze has a great story with it, that I will have to share at a later date. It is a surprise for someone.
Another Order For a Small” Newsboy
Some lucky newspaper publisher will be getting a copy of the small bronze newsboy as a gift. This sculpture is a limited edition of 100 and the cost is $1,350 plus shipping. 
Another Newsboy to Be Created
Many times when I create a sculpture I reserve the rights to pour additional castings of the sculpture. That is the case with the newsboy. I had a client that contacted me and asked if they could purchase the sculpture and could I change the newspaper.
I think the idea is marvelous. Each newsboy with the headline and masthead of the newspaper that is pertinent to their history. I am sorry I can not reveal the purchaser or the headline, though it is fascinating. The sculpture is a being created as a gift for someone who used to work in the publishing industry. Just in case that person happens to be surfing the net and finds my litte obscure blog, I’ll hold off on the details until the gift is presented. I am thrilled that another newsboy is being cast. It is at the foundry now.
If anyone is interested in one of the life size newsboy sculptures, the price, at this date is $20,000. If you would like the newspaper changed to fit your headline and masthead there is an additional $2,000 charge. To do this I hand carve each of the papers, and there are many. There is one in the newsboys hand, one under his other arm, and several on the ground. My client sent me a copy of the newspaper that they wanted to produce and I created a mock up to show them what it would look like. OF couse we can’t put all of the copy, there is greeking or scribbles where the body copy is. There is however the masthead, the headline and the look of their paper.
I also won’t change the back of the paper. The copy reads “in memory of Skinney and others” If you are interested in the history and the hidden meaning behind the back page of the newspaper check out this part of the journal by following the newsboy category, and then read the link to the death of a newsboy.
The Newsboy Placed
A couple of months ago my husband and I were in Austin, Texas for a wedding. While there I had the opportunity to see my sculpture of the newsboy that was installed at the Texas Press Association. It was created to be placed at the capitol grounds in Austin, however it must go through legislation to do so. Until it is passed it will reside at the Texas Press Association building. You can read about the process of this commission by following the newsboy category in this blog.
The Texas Press Messenger covered the story of its placement.
Newsboy- Life Size- The Editions
Sculptor Bridgette Mongeon documents the creating of a limited edition, bronze figurine and life-size Newsboy sculpture for the Texas Press Association. Bronzes are available for purchase in both sizes.
First Edition- Texas Press Association
The sculpture was originally commissioned by the Texas Press Association and intended for the State Capitol building in Austin, Texas. For the sculpture to be placed at the capitol building it must first pass through legislation. Until then, it presently resides outside of the Texas Press Association building. If you would like to see the sculpture it is located at 718 W. Fifth St., Austin, TX 78701.
Second Sculpture In The Edition-Tabor City Tribune
The Meyer Gallery in Utah contacted me about the edition of the life-size bronze Newsboy. Their client wanted to buy one in the edition to honor the Tabor City Tribune and the former editor/publisher Walter Horace Carter. They inquired to see if the Newsboy could be recreated with a replica of the Tabor City 1953 newspaper announcing their winning of the Pulitzer. That is where the idea of changing each newspaper for the rest of the newsboy life-size bronze edition came from.
According to the 1953 Tabor City Tribune newspaper that was sent to me, they were the first weekly paper to receive such an honor and shared it with Whiteville News-Reporter. Both papers were chosen for their crusade against the Ku Klux Klan, quite an impressive and courageous accomplishment, in this artist’s opinion. I am thrilled to be a part of this place in history.
The client sent me a copy of the paper. I had to modify the design of the newspaper so that it would translate to bronze, but was able to keep the look, headline and masthead of the paper. To recreate this paper for the bronze a wax is poured for each of the papers that are a part of the sculpture. There are some under his arm, one in his hand and some at his feet. Each must be carved in the wax to represent the new paper and headline. Here you will see the copy of the newspaper, my marker layout, the wax and how all of that transferred into the details of the bronze papers. Of course the back of the paper remains as I created it with the tribute to Skinney and others based on the historical article written by history professor Vincent Digirolamo.
I am still waiting for photographs of the placement of the sculpture and official comments. You can follow these links to read more about Horace Carter, Tabor Tribune and Tabor City.