#246 Auburn Coolie #246

by William Lum

Title

#246 Auburn Coolie #246

Artist

William Lum

Medium

Painting - Watercolor

Description

A few blocks from the Placer Arts Organization Office in Auburn, California, is a statue of a Chinese Coolie. Roadside American describes the stature: "The Chinese Coolie" is a 22-ft. tall sculpture of a grizzled man in a conical hat pushing a wheelbarrow. The statue was created by Auburn dentist Kenneth H. Fox in 1972, along with his other Great Statues of Auburn. It stood for decades outside his dental practice on the other side of I-80 before being moved to the site of the old train station (and then-future Gold Rush Museum) in 1989.

The Coolie is made from one mile of reinforced steel rebar and 35 cubic yards of concrete. Including his wheelbarrow, the Coolie is 33 ft. long and weighs 70 tons. Fox created the statue, according to the plaque, as "a tribute to the historical significance of the Chinese worker in the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad through the Sierra Mountains of California.

Sometimes I look for things that have historical significance or are notable landmarks. This tribute to Chinese Americans fits the bill. The painting is done in in transparent watercolor.

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September 20th, 2016

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