Moving Peter's "Homage" Sculpture

My late husband, Peter MacElwain, made this beautiful sculpture nearly 20 years ago and it was shown in a number of sculpture exhibitions in several places in the United States. It was originally titled "Homage to Kant", but we always referred to it as the "Homage". After the last time it was shown in an exhibition, Peter moved it to a spot in our back yard where it has sat ever since. Peter died about 2 years after he moved it there.

Recently, I was contacted by Philippa, who is opening a sculpture garden near her gallery in St. Eugene. She was interested in showing a piece of Peter's work and I suggested the "Homage" would be the best bet. Philippa and her husband and 2 kids and our friend Mac came to my place on the weekend to move the "Homage".

But it wasn't easy. First, Mac tried to drive his truck back to the part of the yard where the "Homage" was sitting so we could load it on. But the ground is very wet still from the melted snow and his truck got badly stuck in the mud.

We tried to push his truck out but to no avail. I asked my neighbour, who runs the dairy farm across the road, if he could help pull Mac's truck out of the mud, and he did. Phew! (Thank goodness for good neighbours with big tractors!)

We decided to use a different road. It would mean having to carry the sculpture a little farther, but at least the truck wouldn't get stuck. First, we had to tip the sculpture over so we could disassemble it.  

All hands on deck for this work. Here, Philippa, her husband Nik, Mac, and Philippa and Nick's son are all gently lowering the "Homage" down....

...and over she goes!

Then the "Homage" is taken apart into 3 pieces. Peter designed the sculpture to come apart this way to make it easier to move.

The pieces were carried back to where the truck was waiting to load them up. Thankfully, the sculpture is made of aluminum so they were not too heavy - but still it required a lot of muscle-power to move them.

And finally, they were all loaded on Mac's truck and trailer, secured in place, and driven to Philippa and Nik's gallery. Now they have to be cleaned up, painted and reassembled, which will be done next weekend. A lot of hard work but it will be wonderful to show the "Homage" again.
I will write more about this upcoming outdoor sculpture show at the Skelly Gallery, soon. Here is a link to a poster for the show.