Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum News


	For Immediate Release: May 18, 2007	Contact: Jill Burwitz (217) 558-8970 office (217) 299-6165 cell
	Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum receives Abraham Lincoln bust from Warren Achievement Center, Inc. Adults with developmental disabilities help create bust through center's achievement program Springfield, Ill. — The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM) today received a bronze coated bust of Abraham Lincoln from Warren Achievement Center, Inc., of Monmouth, IL. The organization's day program, Achievement Industries, serves adults with developmental disabilities. The bust was completed by individuals enrolled in the program. "We are honored that Warren Achievement Center has chosen us to receive this work of art. The bust will proudly be displayed in the Library for visitors from around the world to enjoy," said Rick Beard, executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. "This is a wonderful addition to the collection at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum," said Illinois Historic Preservation Director Robert Coomer. "It will have a special meaning here knowing it was created in a program that helps others." Warren Achievement Center is a not-for-profit organization that provides services to infants and toddlers with developmental delays, residential services to children and adults with developmental disabilities, and vocational training to adults with disabilities. The vocational training program, known as Achievement Industries, serves about one hundred people each year through services designed to enhance independence and develop economic self-sufficiency. Warren Achievement Center commissioned Illinois sculptor Tom Lytle to produce the original clay sculpture bust of Abraham Lincoln. Lytle was also commissioned in 2005 to create a bust of Ronald Reagan, which was given to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Lytle's primary focus is hammered and welded steel fabrication as well as doing work in copper, stone, and mixed media. His sculptures range from smaller intimate works to larger than life commissions for many major institutions and public sites throughout the Midwest region of Illinois and Iowa. "I am honored and pleased to present this bust of a great President from the State of Illinois to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, on behalf of an Illinois community agency, sculpted by an Illinois artist, and manufactured in Monmouth, Illinois, by residents with developmental disabilities," said Michael Lewis, President/CEO of Warren Achievement Center, Inc. Most of the work to produce a bust is done by participants in Warren Achievement Center's vocational training program. The tasks required that exceed the skills of the people in the program are done by staff or non-disabled workers. Using a molding process that is ideal for reproducing sculpted works of art, trainees mix and pour the resins into a mold. When the casting is hardened, it is removed from the mold and painted. Those castings, which will be given a true bronze coating, are sent to Artistic Coatings of Denver, Colorado. Achievement Industries program participants do the final work of cutting the wood for the walnut base. Final assembly and finishing steps are shared between trainees and staff. Individuals served by Achievement Industries receive vocational training and earn wages through the work they perform. ###