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Arts & Entertainment

Building on Barnum

Bethel Sculptor David Gesualdi prepares plaque for the base of the Barnum statue.

Entering the home studio of Bethel sculptor, David Gesualdi is like stepping into the laboratory of a mad scientist.

There are clay and stone sculptures and other pieces of artwork in every direction. A bust of Alexander the Great's father, Philip II of Macedonia, hangs on one wall, mythic king's queen's and circus performers stand in frozen poses and there's even a model of a human skeleton, (for the record Gesualdi uses the skeleton to make sure he stays true to human anatomy when he's sculpting people, and not for science experiments).

Gesualdi, 52, is the artist who was commissioned by the Bethel Historical Society to create the life size bronze statue of Bethel's most celebrated native son P.T. Barnum, which now sits outside the Bethel library. That statue was unveiled , but Gesualdi and the Bethel Historical Society have plans to add another element to the ring.

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Gesualdi is currently working on an intricate three dimensional bronze plaque that will be placed at the base of the Barnum statue. The plaque will depict a circus parade and the Nelson brothers who were clowns with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus for more than 50 years, and who retired to Bethel and are buried in town.

“It's a tribute to the Nelson brothers who were pretty amazing,” Gesualdi said.

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As part of the project, Gesualdi has researched the brothers who were celebrated stilt walkers.

“They were the first people to (portray) Uncle Sam on stilts,” Gesualdi said.

He added that his favorite story about the brothers is that after they moved to Bethel someone went by their house and “they were on their stilts painting the second story.”

Right now part of the clay version of the plaque can be seen in Gesualdi's studio. It depicts the brothers with and without their clown paint on. Like the Barnum statue, the plaque will be taken to a bronze foundry which will create an exact copy of Gesualdi's clay version in bronze.

Pat Rist, President of the Bethel Historical Society said the society choose Gesualdi to create the Barnum sculpture because they were aware of his talents because he had created the Bethel War Memorial.

“Here was an individual who could create the statue from beginning to end not only design it but also work directly with the foundry on the project,” she said.

She added the historical society commissioned Gesualdi to create the Nelson Brother's plaque because in addition to honoring Barnum they wanted to honor these two clowns who were so connected to Bethel and the circus.

“They spent fifty plus years with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus and they retired to Bethel and they died here and are buried here,” she said.

A native of Bethel Gesualdi first became interested in sculpting at a very young age, when he was in third or fourth grade. His interest was inspired in part by a childhood meeting with Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington, who lived on the Bethel/Redding line and was one of the foremost American woman sculptors.

Gesualdi said the Barnum statue depicts Barnum in a very open forward moving stance.

“He's open to the world as he always was but he's also stepping out into the future as he always was,” he said.

As a result of the Barnum statue Gesualdi received a private commission and has been working on that and the plaque of late. He hopes to finish the plaque by the fall and said he thinks the Nelson Brother's plaque will really complete the Barnum monument.

“To me it thematically ties the whole thing together,” he said.

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