Asclepius, the Greek God of Healing by Harry Whitehorse at the Yahara Clinic in 2018.
Many have asked why Harry’s metal statue of Asclepius, the Greek God of Healing, at the Yahara Clinic in Monona, has been covered with a blue tarp for several months. Ken Whitehorse is repairing the sculpture. The sculpture has been restored several times over the years due to vandalism.
Ken Whitehorse repairs the statue in June 2023.
Doctors Gerald Derus and Richard Shropshire commissioned the sculpture for the Monona Grove Clinic in 1964, and it has been a presence in Monona, WI, ever since. The statue was first placed outside the Monona Drive clinic and later moved to the new UW Health Yahara Clinic on East Broadway, where it has also become a recognizable landmark.
The need for repairs goes back to the damage it sustained in the 1960s when vandals pried the statue from its base, pierced the metal with rocks or a hammer, and threw it in a dumpster. Despite Harry’s efforts to repair it by filling it with concrete and fixing the damaged metal, the effects of nature have taken their toll. The metal he used would have held up well if it weren’t for the vandalism.
Ken is doing a thorough restoration job, including incorporating carbon fiber material, which Harry would have approved.I’m thankful that UW Health Yahara Clinic valued the statue they inherited from the Monona Grove Clinic.
Dr. Richard Shropshire, Harry Whitehorse, and Dr. Gerald Derus at the Monona Grove Clinic, Monona, Wisconsin in 2005.