“Forward”
There is a special challenge in painting something familiar and iconic. Students at the Goodman Center/Seed to Table program tackled Madison icons with this mural of the Capitol building flanked by two of its famous statues. This mural gave students a brief glimpse into the history of public art on the capital square and a chance to reexamine the familiar.
The golden statue on the right is “Wisconsin” created by Daniel Chester French to sit atop the capitol building. She holds a globe with an eagle and her helmet is topped by a badger. The bronze statute on the left is “Forward”; she was originally created by Jean Miner in
1893 as a symbol of the suffrage movement.
“Capitol” measures roughly 5 x 8 feet and is painted with exterior grade house paint on Polytab fabric panels that DAMA artists can permanently install onto a variety of surfaces using acrylic gloss gel medium. A larger version of this mural was painted by students at LaFollette High School.