Coal Miner (statue)
Coal Miner is a public artwork by Polish American artist John J. Szaton (1907–1966) which is located in two US State capitals; the original, commissioned in 1963 in Springfield, Illinois, as well as a copy on the west lawn of the Indiana State House in Indianapolis The statues commemorate coal miners who had lost their lives in those states' mining industry. The tall statue rests on a square, granite base supported by a cement foundation that is thick. Historical information Illinois The Coal Miner statue was originally commissioned in 1963 by the State of Illinois, after 15 years of advocacy work by coal miner, artist, and poet Vachel Davis (1898–1966). The Illinois legislature appropriated $15,000 for the construction and casting of a memorial to Illinois coal miners. Davis, who was acquainted with artist John J. Szaton, recommended that he submit a sketch for the monument based on Davis's 1946 painting American Coal Miner. The legislature accepted Szaton's initial sketch. After submitting an model of the sculpture, which was approved, Szaton received a contract to create the full-scale piece. Szaton created a full-scale plaster sculpture in his Tinley Park studio before casting the statue in bronze. The plaster sculpture is still