CT sculptor creates centerpiece for National World War I Memorial to be revealed tonight in Washington, D.C.

In a 2015 design competition for the National World War I Memorial located in Pershing Park in Washington, D.C., Justin Shubow, the president of The National Civic Art Society, urged Howard, a sculptor based in Kent, Connecticut, to enter.

It was a competition Shubow thought Howard, a friend of his and sculptor practicing modern classicism, would be fitting for given the society’s push for consideration of classical designs in addition to modern and postmodern ones.

“We had seen prior work that he had done,” Shubow said. “None of it was a monument or a memorial, but we knew that he had incredible talent and vision and had the right values to design a war memorial.”

Howard entered the competition with an architect based in Texas and designed a sculpture of two soldiers to be included in the architect’s overall design for the memorial, according to a press release; they didn’t make it to the final round.

Architect Joe Weishaar made it to the final round of the competition, according to the press release. He had designed a long wall with a relief for the memorial, the release states, but the commission told him he needed a sculptor. That’s when Weishaar called on Howard.

The National World War I Centennial Commission considered 350 entries from across the world. They ultimately chose Weishaar and Howard as the winners in January 2016, the press release states.

According to the National Park Service, the memorial for the park, named after John J. Pershing, the commander of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I, was built by the National World War I Centennial Commission in 2021 and designed by Weishaar. The memorial also includes the Peace Fountain that features an excerpt from the poem “The Young Dead Soldiers Do Not Speak” by Archibald MacLeish and exhibits about the role of the United States in World War I, according to the NPS.

Howard designed and sculpted the centerpiece for the memorial, incorporating 38 interconnected figures of “superhuman quality,” he explained. Once the first set of figures was ready to be sculpted by Howard, in 2019, he assembled a team of sculptors to help, which included Charlie Mostow, the press release states.

The sculpture spans 58 feet long, which the National Civic Art Society calls “the largest bronze sculpture of its kind in the world.”

The unveiling of the sculpture will take place during the First Illumination ceremony at 7:15 p.m. on Sept. 13 in Washington D.C.’s Freedom Plaza, according to a media release. It marks the first event of the World War I Living History Weekend, during which visitors can learn about the impact of the war on the United States through historical presentations, according to the release.

The sculpture tells an allegory of the United States during World War I through the story of a doughboy who leaves his wife and daughter to join the military, suffering the cost of war, including witnessing death and experiencing post traumatic stress disorder, then returns home to his family after victory, according to a press release.

To encapsulate this journey, Howard named the piece “A Soldier’s Journey,” inspired by Joseph Campbell’s “A Hero’s Journey,” which incorporates a hero’s path of separation, initiation and return, according to the Joseph Campbell Foundation.

“I took a very negative subject, which is war, and I sculpted a very positive message, which is really about humanity and human beings and rising to the occasion. It’s not at all a glorification of war,” Howard said.