Artist: Gary Lee Price
Title: Great Contributors: The Wright Brothers Bench
Medium: Bronze
Dimensions: Please Select

"I have always been absolutely fascinated with Orville and Wilbur Wright and astounded how these two tightly-knit brothers changed the course of history and how they were able to finally  ‘crack the nut’ that had mankind earthbound for centuries!  Of course we all know that ideas and inventions build upon each other, but it was these two very unassuming Dayton, Ohio bicycle shop owners, with their practical knowledge of maneuverability and control, who surpassed all the previous dreamers and predecessors! To get aloft was one feat – to have CONTROL was truly the critical factor. Their ingenious idea of wing warping was applied not only to turning the airborne craft on three axis, but also in it’s actual propulsion through the air as well. For those reasons I chose to depict Orville and Wilbur very approachable and grounded on and near their bench, and yet both airborne in their thoughts and vision for the future! The 8.5 ft. propeller, which I depicted Wilbur holding in the sculpture, was masterfully hand carved out of spruce and weighed a mere six pounds, and yet the two props provided enough thrust (90 pounds) to get the 1903,  605-pound, 40-foot wingspan biplane off the ground for hundreds of feet on that epic December day. No longer would mankind merely walk the earth. From that day forward not even our earth’s atmosphere would limit our reach ! The Wright Brothers – masters of ingenuity and truly, GREAT CONTRIBUTORS!" Gary Lee Price

Part of Price's Great Contributor series, this is a bronze sculpture of the Wright Brothers seated on a park bench. One stands on the right side of a bench, Wilbur Wright, holding a propeller vertically with both hands. He is dressed in a cap, long-sleeve shirt, and pants tucked into boots. The other, Orville Wright, is seated on the bench, embodying an attentive posture. The bench itself is part of the sculpture, its metallic structure intertwined with realism and functionality. The integration of the bench into the sculpture is an invitation for interaction, to sit alongside the figure.