Click on any image for a larger (but slower loading) version.

Progress is the largest piece I have executed to date. It was carved from a 5 X 2 X 1.5 foot block of Bedford limestone that weighed 2,500 lbs. It took nearly two months of steady work to complete. It was designed to reflect an important aspect of the community in which it resides. The city of Whiting is home to one of the nations largest asphalt plants. Any time of the day or night, many plumes of flame can be seen over the city coming from the numerous flare stacks attached to the Whiting refinery. In addition to the refinery, Whiting is home to a building materials factory, a grain processing facility, and a glass block factory.

The sculpture was designed to reflect on the history, present, and future of the city of Whiting. The importance of the refinery to the city , both as a physical presence, and as a symbol of the elements of progress in Whiting cannot be underestimated. The refinery actually occupies over 1/2 of the land that makes up the city of Whiting. The Town grew around the Refinery. The name "Whiting" was originally the name of a railroad siding which the refinery adopted as it's name. The town came later. The sculpture is located on a portion of Indianapolis Blvd. in Whiting that is within eyesight of the refinery.

If you are in Chicago, simply drive south on Lake Shore Drive until it turns into South Shore Drive, then head into Indiana on Indianapolis. It's about a mile and a half from the Illinois border. Unfortunately, the commons area that the sculpture is placed in butts up against an apartment building, so viewed from the south, the flame is lost in the background. However, the City has planted a row of tall-growing coniferous bushes which will (hopefully soon) conceal the house from view.

The most interesting thing about Whiting is that it exists in it present form at all. It is a town with a truly small town atmosphere wedged in between the Southeast Side of Chicago, the large city of Hammond, IN, and East Chicago, IN. Whiting is a truly uniqe town. If you are in the Chicago area, you should make a special effort to visit.