Move that Mountaineer About…

One of the famous sights in Morgantown is the Mountaineer statue at West Virginia University. It actually has a much longer history than appears at first sight as the initial idea arose in 1938 for a statue with a lamp that would be lit each year to commemorate WVU alumni who had died. The Second World War interrupted any planning for that idea, and it didn’t come back to life until 1950 when there was an idea to install a statue on the new Library being built in downtown Morgantown. In the 1960s the artist was eventually selected, and Donald De Lue was selected. There was apparently no model for the piece and it was also downsized because of funding issues to its current 8.5 feet.

There was some talk of installing it inside the new MountainLair building, but eventually it was installed outside and just to the left of the entrance.

It was finally dedicated in late 1971 and so has been a feature of WVU life for over 50 years now. But as a photographer I’ve always struggled with capturing an interesting and artistic impression of the statue, especially in relationship to the other famous historic buildings in that area of the campus. Yes, you can just about incorporate the statue into that older architecture with this viewpoint:

But I had to use the power of Photoshop to create concepts for what might have been if the statue had been installed at the other side of the road in Woodburn Circle.

Or perhaps a closer view with the old Woodburn Hall slightly out of focus in the background:

Although why keep him in Morgantown – we could move a little further away to Coopers Rock State Forest so that he could overlook the Cheat River gorge:

Of overlooking the beautiful fall colors of West Virginia?

But wherever he lands up, the Mountaineer Statue adds a certain grandeur to these images. I hope you agree!

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