Beauty in the Detail

Few artists will admit to being guided by the sensitivity of their critics. Joe Mullins, on the other hand, has used their thoughts and feelings to drive his work to monumental heights.

As the designer and sculptor of the West Virginia Veterans Memorial on the state’s Capitol complex in Charleston, Mullins approached the task with no small measure of humility. After all, West Virginia lost more soldiers per capita in this country’s last four major wars than any other state. (It also has more Medal of Honor winners per capita.) And, as an Army infantry veteran, he has a firsthand appreciation of what service really means. So when he was selected to design the monument in 1987, his first objective was to consider the weight of history and sacrifice in the state.

“I thought it was important that this monument really satisfy those people who have suffered such loss,” he says. “There was an overwhelming sense of responsibility.”

Initially, the $3.8 million project was conceived as a Vietnam War memorial, but Mullins persuaded state officials to expand the monument to include World Wars I and II and the Korean War. He then mapped out its overall structure: four sections depicting each war extending from a hollow center, encircled by walkways and a reflecting pool. Behind each limestone section is a granite interior inscribed with the names of each war’s West Virginia casualties. On the exterior, a solitary 8-foot soldier stands sentry.

Mullins honored his fellow veterans by depicting them as accurately as possible. This process began with exhaustive research into the most minute details so Mullins could be sure each soldier dressed as he would have in his respective war. “When you make a mistake in sculpture, it stands out forever,” he says. “It needed to be right.”

While the bronze sculptures are remarkable in their accuracy, they also reveal much about their creator. A native West Virginian with a graduate degree in fine arts, Mullins says the values of his local culture reverberate throughout his work. “West Virginia is real people doing real things,” he says. “We don’t trade coal futures; we actually mine coal. We make chemicals here; we don’t invest in chemical plants.”

It’s no coincidence that the soldiers depicted in the monument aren’t wearing parade uniforms. Mullins says he wanted them in combat dress, just as he rendered the soldiers at the ages infantrymen were likely to serve in each war. And for the Korean War section of the monument, Mullins paid tribute to the Tuskegee airmen, the legendary African-American fliers who had their segregated training in Alabama.

Having completed the monument for its dedication in 1999, Mullins says it was ultimately rewarding yet exhausting work. “In a sense, each individual ammunition pack and parachute buckle were important pieces of design that I agonized over,” he says. “So it was like a collage of hundreds of different sculptures brought together.”

His next major project, already in the works, is a memorial for women veterans, which also will be erected on Charleston’s Capitol campus. And he’s seeking commissions for federal monuments in addition to teaching sculpture at West Virginia State College.

Looking ahead, one thing he says he wouldn’t mind taking on is an apprentice. Having also trained himself in the art of monumental sculpture, he’d like to pass on what he’s learned. “There are very few books on the subject,’’ he says. “I know there are people out there who want to do this, and I would like to have the next person not have to start from scratch.”

Of course, it would help if such a person shared Mullins’ sensitivity to accuracy and history, selfless notions that might make other artists balk. For what ultimately makes Mullins’ West Virginia memorial so monumental is its attention to all the details that comprise the human face of war, making its sacrifices so profound.

Michael Depp is a writer living in New Orleans.

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