By Monday morning his head was gone, his left leg was separated from his torso, and his right foot was a mass.
Turns out, Wax Abe Lincoln was no match for Washington‘s harsh heat wave.
The six-foot-tall statue of the 16th president of the United States, by Richmond artist Sandy Williams IV, was installed in February on the campus of Garrison Elementary School in northwest Washington. The noble representation, intended to draw attention to the Civil War era and its aftermath, was placed under towering trees that would surely provide ample shade in summer.
That was the idea, anyway. Instead, three consecutive days of temperatures above 90 degrees devastated Lincoln. Photos of the president melting with his head tilted back soon began to go viral.
Dropping Abe into heat-induced agony was an interpretation by meme creators. Letting Abe fall into carnal ecstasy was the suggestion of those who preached more scandalous versions.
No matter how people saw it, what the heat had caused could not be ignored.
“I didn’t even think about it melting, but in retrospect it makes a lot of sense,” sighed Melissa Krull, 41, who lives nearby and stopped by Monday to take a look at the president’s wax remains. “Even his poor legs are starting to come unstuck.”
At one point, Lincoln’s head was raised so precariously that staff at CulturalDC, the nonprofit that commissioned the work, attempted to straighten it so it would stay in place. But it was a lost cause, so early Monday they took Lincoln’s head away for safekeeping with plans to put it back on Tuesday. All that remained was a wire spoke holding the former president’s head in place.
Surprisingly, or perhaps not at all, this is the second time the Lincoln statue has melted. The 3,000-pound Lincoln Candle (it had 100 wicks intended to be lit) was installed in the same location in September. Days before its official presentation, someone lit more than half of the fuses and then left the piece unattended.
Flame 1, Wax Lincoln 0. Abe was reduced to a gruesome corpse and what was left of the sticky statue was taken away.
Precautions were taken for its reincarnation in February. The number of wicks was reduced to only 10, and visitors were ordered to light them for a minute or two and then extinguish them.
That approach worked well until the sun intervened over the weekend and Lincoln began to ooze. But melting like soft serve on a scorching summer day wasn’t something his creator imagined would happen. Williams, an art professor at the University of Richmond, understood that the wax had a melting point well above the maximums recorded in the district’s most muggy summers.
“The idea was that the ambient temperature, unless it reached 140 degrees, would not melt the sculpture,” Williams said. “But yeah, I’m not sure the company has ever tried to just put a block outside for days in hundred-plus degree weather.”
While the Lincoln statue’s heat allergies have attracted widespread attention and provided humorous fodder for the gods of social media, they have also drawn attention to the work itself and the role public art can play in the understanding of history.
Titled “40 ACRES: Camp Barker,” the statue was placed on the Garrison grounds because during the Civil War, that was the location of Camp Barker, a refuge for people escaping slavery in the South and seeking freedom. Lincoln is said to have visited the camp on several occasions. The project is part of Williams’ wax archive series exploring the era during and after the Civil War.
“I’m interested in highlighting stories from the Reconstruction era that may have been forgotten or, you know, out of place within the larger narrative arc,” Williams said. “For example, we learned that Lincoln freed the slaves, but not necessarily what happened to these new free black communities.”
Placing Lincoln in a neighborhood away from the National Mall helped make that connection with people who might not otherwise see it, Williams said.
Kristi Maiselman, executive director and curator of CulturalDC, said the community has embraced the Lincoln statue and sparked debate about the statements it makes and how it connects people to history.
He added that the statue’s melting during a heat wave provided an opportunity to examine where the world is headed.
“Personally, I think it’s a great platform for this work to spark conversations, not only about the historical importance of the site and Lincoln, but also about what’s happening in the world in relation to climate change,” he said.
Maiselman said the artwork, paid for with a combination of public and private funds, cost a total of $150,000, which includes the cost of the replacement statue after the first Lincoln burned.
The immediate fate of the heat-damaged statue remains uncertain. It was scheduled to remain in its current location until September, and CulturalDC and Williams would like to repair it and keep it there. But they said a final decision will be made in consultation with the school and other community members.
For now, its remains remain in place and there is nothing like it in the city.
Cait Lowry, owner of the Coffee Bar, half a block from Wax Lincoln, served coffee at a ceremony when it was installed and remembers appreciating its uniqueness.
“It was so cool,” he said.
It’s just not cool enough.
correction
An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported when an earlier Lincoln sculpture was installed. It was in September. The article has been updated.
Keynote USA
For the Latest Local News, Follow Keynote USA Local on Twitter.