Vic McCallum, Sculptor
Vic received his Bachelor of Arts degree from West Georgia College in 1979,
and his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Georgia in 1982,
where he studied under renowned sculptor and Professor Emeritus, William J. Thompson
Vic's work can be viewed at Tannery Row Cultural Arts Center,
554 West Main Street in historic Buford, Georgia.
You can contact the artist at 770-778-2306 or at his web site highlanderstudio.com
Vic is shown here in the beginning stages of creating our eagle
which is the center piece of the Memorial Plaza area.
Construction began by putting clay over a steel and
wire mesh frame welded together
Vic describes the progress to Ron & Carolyn Buice
We contracted Vic to do a statue of our committee logo which is an
eagle carring a rememberance rose
just begining to land
My son, Chad Buice who teaches art at Riverside Elementary
helped develop and made a rendering of our logo
The idea of the eagle came from Apollo 11
Apollo 11 Eagle concept
I was stationed aboard the USS Ozark MCS2 which was assigned
the task of secondary recovery ship for Apollo 11
when we first started our memorial committee in 1993
It was an excellent drawing and has served as
our offical logo for 10 years however,
In 2003 Vic brought our design to life.
It is the most awesome eagle we have ever seen
Job Well Done!
Vic turns his clay model into brass
at the foundry
Vic, Jack Ward, and Mat place the Rose
In our eagles talons
The casting was completed at
Wards Sculptural Arts
195 Hickory Springs Industrial Park Drive
Canton, Georgia 30114
Owner: John (Jack) Ward 404-345-7353
After work was completed at the foundry our eagle was
transported to the memorial site for placement.
This was no ordinary transport
The Gwinnett County Fire & Emergency Services allowed Vic,
who is also a Gwinnett Firefighter, to use their flat bed
supply truck to transport our eagle to the memorial.
When Vic reached the Gwinnett County line he was met by
several other vehicles, Police, Fire, and civilian to form
a convoy which escorted our eagle across the county
to our county seat Lawrenceville, Georgia.
All emergency vehicles, including the supply truck, had
all their emergency lights flashing, stopping traffic at all
intersections, giving our eagle it's proper respect
before reaching it's final home overlooking our Fallen Heroes.
A crowd watches as our eagle is lifted from the truck
and placed on the oblisk.
Vic guides our eagle down to it's resting place
Vic makes some final adjustmenst then our eagle lands.
A prayer of thanks is offered to God for all involved
in the completion of Gwinnett's Fallen Heroes Memorial.
Three committee members Mike Finch, Carolyn & Ron Buice
Now the memorial is complete
Dedication Ceremony
Gwinnett's Fallen Heroes Memorial