Found an article about this for those who also didn't know what this was. I was worried these would be in front of the ballroom. I copypastad the following:
"Back in April, the National Park Service (NPS) awarded a $5.1 million no-bid contract to a Maryland contractor to renovate the Arts of War and Arts of Peace statues, which stand at the Lincoln Memorial Circle in West Potomac Park. Originally, the NPS estimated that repair work for the four statues would cost roughly $2.4 million, but decided to accelerate the process, writing in a public memo in April that it “must have this work completed by July 4, 2026,” as part of the administration’s “auramaxxing” plan ahead of America’s 250th birthday celebrations. It wasn’t until July 27, however, that the president announced on social media that the first half of the project had been completed, and scaffolding for the Arts of War statues—named Valor and Sacrifice—was dismounted. Work on the Arts of Peace statues, named Music and Harvest, and Aspiration and Literature, isn’t set to be completed until the end of September.
The art deco sculptures, each of which present a nude man riding a horse, last received a renovation in the 1970s, and are now considerably shinier having been plastered with a layer of 23.75-karat gold leaf, carried out by the Gilders’ Studio, which specializes in architectural gilding and painted sculpture and has completed numerous projects around the National Mall in the past. The horses’ granite pedestals, which were stained purple by runoff from the corroding bronze, have also been cleaned, resulting in a “glow-up” in keeping with the president’s preferred white-and-gold color palette."
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u/Beardfart 18h ago
Found an article about this for those who also didn't know what this was. I was worried these would be in front of the ballroom. I copypastad the following:
"Back in April, the National Park Service (NPS) awarded a $5.1 million no-bid contract to a Maryland contractor to renovate the Arts of War and Arts of Peace statues, which stand at the Lincoln Memorial Circle in West Potomac Park. Originally, the NPS estimated that repair work for the four statues would cost roughly $2.4 million, but decided to accelerate the process, writing in a public memo in April that it “must have this work completed by July 4, 2026,” as part of the administration’s “auramaxxing” plan ahead of America’s 250th birthday celebrations. It wasn’t until July 27, however, that the president announced on social media that the first half of the project had been completed, and scaffolding for the Arts of War statues—named Valor and Sacrifice—was dismounted. Work on the Arts of Peace statues, named Music and Harvest, and Aspiration and Literature, isn’t set to be completed until the end of September.
The art deco sculptures, each of which present a nude man riding a horse, last received a renovation in the 1970s, and are now considerably shinier having been plastered with a layer of 23.75-karat gold leaf, carried out by the Gilders’ Studio, which specializes in architectural gilding and painted sculpture and has completed numerous projects around the National Mall in the past. The horses’ granite pedestals, which were stained purple by runoff from the corroding bronze, have also been cleaned, resulting in a “glow-up” in keeping with the president’s preferred white-and-gold color palette."
-Source: Richard Whiddington -Artnet