Public Art in Houghton

Houghton's The Miner

The Miner (1979) is a bronze statue by Elizabeth Biesiot in the city of Houghton, Michigan (Smithsonian Art Inventory, 2015). It is dedicated to the miners that gave birth to the city through their hard work in the copper mines. Its body is of bronze and its base is of stone: the Miner, in mid-stride, is perched upon stones, which indicate the foundational nature of the subject. The statue appeals to one's sense of place, time and history all at once, and the more one stands in front of it and soaks in the surrounding environment, the more one feels grateful to the men who are represented by this statue.

In a way, it does the same thing that the Vietnam Memorial does: it evokes a sensitive subject and makes it real -- and in doing so also pays tribute to the men and women who gave their lives. In this sense, the Miner does what a good work of art should do: it elevates the mind and gets it thinking about more than just the representation in front of it. For instance, when one pauses long enough to consider what the Miner stands for, one sees more than just a man going to work in a hole. One sees the wife who is waiting for him at home, and the children he is working to feed. One wonders about the domestic situation: how many were happy, how many were lonely, how many had strong families. One remembers the disaster of the collapsed mine in Chile a few years ago and wonders whether the families of these miners ever feared that their husbands or fathers or brothers might not come back alive.

One also sees the importance of the labor that these men provided for the city, which honors them today with this memorial. The memorial itself is made of copper -- the same metal that these men went into the earth to find. So there is a touching tribute in the choice of metals used in its construction -- a gesture that says, "Thanks for making this possible."

The statue itself is one that the ancient Greeks, those great sculptors of antiquity, might have approved of. Though its form and its attire, and even its subject, are probably not what the Greeks would have done (their statues were more poised, stoic in a way), there is something that makes one think of the classical period in which sculpture came to really bloom (Johnson, 2003).

Here in Houghton, the Miner is striding forward, capture forever in mid-step as he makes his way to work (or so one assumes -- perhaps he is heading home after a hard day's labor). Either way, he is erect, standing up straight -- his posture indicative of a strong constitution. Atop his head is his miner's hat with the light required for maneuvering in the dark caverns underground. He wears a coat and in his hands he carries his pick and his pail. His boots are spiked and his trousers tied by what looks like a makeshift belt. Yet, his face has a happy weariness about it: in it one sees the smiling eyes of youth, the upturned cheeks, but also the careworn brow of one who hopes to make his way well in the world.

The elements of visual expression are located in the stance of the Miner as he proceeds either to or from work -- and they are especially discernible in the features of his face, which is happy, and in his stride, which is confident. The shape of the statue is such that it conveys a sense of purpose, of meaning self-contained within the subject: the Miner is an important figure within the community and knows the value of his person. He is not, however, an individual who is full of himself but rather one who is happy to serve the community and the greater good by digging into the bowels of the earth. Ironically, he does not appear to be one you might ordinarily find in a mine: he almost has a jovial appearance -- a spiritual joy within him.

The texture of the statue is of course hard and metallic, yet there is a shine and a softness to it that evokes an ethereal feeling. The way that the Miner wears his coat and steps with such determination suggests that he is almost mythical, like the snowman who comes to life, or like the fairy godmother of Cinderella. It is almost as though he stole into the town one night, unearthed the copper that begot the town's industry, and then stole out again without anyone detecting his presence. His costume's simplicity does not betray this other-worldly sense but adds to it by making the Miner a representative figure of near-mythological status: a simple man of a bygone era, whose effect is seen everywhere in the town's productivity.

The statue maintains its balance and proportion through the Miner's ease of stride, with one leg extended about to set down its foot and the other behind lifting up its foot from the earth. The statue represents a man in motion and thus achieves a state of balance both figuratively and literally: figuratively by showing a figure rooted in both the past (the leg behind) and the present (the forward moving leg) -- or, rather, the Miner of the past is the foundation of the city's future; literally by placing the statue's weight on two equally proportioned pedestals (the legs), which support the bulk of the statue's frame.

While visiting this artwork, I did not observe anyone engaging it. I alone stood and looked at it up close and also sat back and admired it. Some persons walked by on the sidewalk but no one stopped to consider it. The values that this statue communicated to me did not seem to be making any impression on anyone else -- but perhaps that was because no one had any real incentive to stop and notice it. If they did have some incentive, they might see the statue for what it is -- a work of art that is both backward and forward looking -- a statue that tells us something about ourselves, as in where we came from and where we are going -- which is what a good work of art should do (Wolfe, 2000).

What changes I would propose making to help this statue achieve its goals of memorializing the Miner, would not be anything having to do with the statue itself. Rather, they would be effected within the community. It would be a day in honor of the Miner -- the traditions and the work that he represented: a day of memorial. A service would be conducted at the site of the statue. A parade could be conducted beginning at one of the local mines and ending at the statue's site. Speeches could be given in which we hear of what the mining community meant and means to Houghton. In this way, the community might be roused to reflect more on the value of the work of art and stop long enough to appreciate what it has to communicate. This might provide the incentive the locals of the town need in order to notice the statue.