Ginger Nicholson has brought back the Georgia men who signed the Declaration of Independence.
The 52-year-old busts of Lyman Hall, George Walton and Button Gwinnett have been on display at Meadow Garden, the historic home of George Walton, since 2001, but they were in dire need of restoration. When Ms. Nicholson, who was training to become a docent at Meadow Garden, saw the need, she wanted to step in to help.
"I felt that these men went over and beyond what a lot of Americans do today, and we owe a lot to them. They made a lot of sacrifices for us," Ms. Nicholson said. "The least I could do was to bring their busts back to some form of dignity."
Having been trained as an artist at the Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia, Ms. Nicholson took on the project of restoring the busts at the end of September.
"With my background, I figured that I would at least give it a try. I had never done a project like this before, so I was a bit nervous as how it would turn out, but I trusted God to guide me," she said.
Through mid-February, when she finished the restoration, Ms. Nicholson spent a total of at least 85 hours restoring the busts.
As she spent more and more time working on the busts, she began noticing differences that weren't apparent before.
"When I first began work on them, they seemed to be the same. But when you begin restoring their features, you see that they are much different and the busts show somewhat of a personality," she said.
It also encouraged her to learn more.
"I became more familiar with them. I became more curious about other things they were involved with. I thought about what it must have been like to ride on a horse from Georgia to Philadelphia. It made me think about what their sacrifices really meant," she said. "Now that, I didn't expect."
For more information about Meadow Garden, visit http://www.geocities.com/meadowgarden3.
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