A Lone Stonemason on a Mission to Restore the Horse in Golden Gate Park

http://www.ktvu.com/video/26054868/index.html

In case you haven't already seen this on KTVU evening news, here is Tom FINALLY getting some press for this phenomenal undertaking and he's getting some well-deserved, positive praise for his charitable restoration project for Vet Anderson's horse in Golden Gate Park. Tom is indeed a lone man on a lonely mission to keep this beautiful horse bas-relief sculpture from crumbling away. It's not just the elements threatening the demise of this 1937 WPA era sculpture, it's the vandals.

Their hands are literally picking away at the gutted sculpture and as previously blogged, nasty green spray paint has added more unnecessary damage.

Tom Sperow is a true artist and a craftsman of another time. Let's make sure that his efforts and his work get recognized by helping him get to the restoration's end before the horse disappears altogether at the hands of vandals!  --photos and post by Ingrid Sperow

Restoring the Horse 2010

It was a glorious day in San Francisco; one of those memorable, typically autumn, sixty-something degrees, with no wind blowing, days in Golden Gate Park.
Thomas Sperow has finally had the opportunity, after a busy year and despite economy slow-down and remodel pull-backs, to return to his beloved, charitable project of restoring Vet Anderson’s WPA horse bas-relief sculpture (c . 1937) in Golden Gate Park’s Horseshoe Courts. In July 2010, the scaffolding was erected in front of the horse bas-relief in order to commence restoration work on it. I’ve included photos of several views of the horse dated both Sept 2009, and Nov 2010; you can make your own comparisons of how much more damage has occurred.

Unfortunately, it looks like vandals decided to use the erected scaffolding for their own defacing motives. The horse has been neglected for too long and it just seems to get worse with that one-step forward, two-steps back feeling looming about. The friable horse sculpture has once again been effaced. The muzzle, the ear and the eyes have been spray-painted an electric green. The horse’s face actually looks very sad now as a result of the inept deface artist’s feeble attempt of artistic expression.