Size & Dimensions: The 14-foot high bronze is more than twice a person’s height and eight times the volume.
Largest in Texas: When installed (Sept. 26, 1996), it was the largest outdoor bronze figure in the State of Texas.
Base & Site Enhancements: The
statue is mounted on a 6-foot black granite base with incised title,
dedicatory poem; on oppoiste end with an incised acknowledgement of
funding sources - City of El Paso, Mayor & City Council & the
many donors (individuals & families, corporate sponors &
philantropic organizations in order of funding category).
Nose: Fray García’s nose is 5 inches long.
Sandals: Franciscan sandals are size 25EEEE.
Misson Grapes: The mission grapes are about the size of goose eggs.
Francsican Rosay: García’s rosary has 80 beads, each about the size of a golf ball.
Franciscan Crucifix: The crucifix was designed from a small 16th century Franciscan golden crucifix salvaged from a Caribbean shipwreck.
Guadalupe Medallion: Guadalupe Medallion designed from a 17th century medal excavated from a historic site in New Mexico.
Bronze: Hollow
bronze (like a chocolate Easter bunny), with quarter-inch-thick bronze
walls and steel reinforcement and weighs 1-1/2 tons. The
statue’s molten bronze, when poured, was hotter than lava – 2,200
degrees F. Cast by the M-C3 Foundry (Los Angeles, California).
Time-Line: The statue was created in two years: The sculptor created the maquette or small scale model (4 months); the full-scale enlargement was achieve within a year (from the 31” high model to the 14’ high enlargement), and it took 5 months to cast in bronze.
Funding: The
monmument cost $345,830 of which city of El Paso TIF funds allocated
$137,500 (30%), and private sector funding contributed $208,330 (70%)
of which conisted of $20,000 for site enhancements (bomanite paving,
bilingual bronze story plaques, etc.
Cleaning & Repatina: October
2006, City Department of Museums & Cultural Affairs, El Paso
Downtown Development Association and private sector donors, and
Humanities Texas (State of Texas) collectively contributed over $4,000
for the cleaning and repatina of the Fray García Monument. The XII
Travelers Board and sculptor John Sherrill Houser are most grateful for
civic and private sector support for the Fray García statue, second
monument in the XII Travelers series.
More than Facts:
A 16-page illustrated booklet, entitled "John Houser's Fray García de
San Francisco: The Making of a Monument" is available from the XII
Travelers Board (contact this webiste for price & orders). It
contains information not only about the artistic creation of the statue
but historical information on Fray García, the Founder of the Pass of
the North.