Community Comes Together to Celebrate Cyrus Dallin, His Iconic Paul Revere Statue and the Prado (Photos)

By Matt Conti on Mon, Apr. 30, 2012 in Arts & Culture, History, Only in the North End, Parks, Photos & Videos

“Cyrus Dallin and his Paul Revere – 58 Years of Perseverance” by Aimee Taberner, Co-Chair, Cyrus Dallin Art Museum

Principal, Eliot School, Traci Walker Griffith

(L-R) David Kubiak, Michele Brogan, Jim Salini and Stephanie Hogue from NEWRA and FOTP3

Dallin Family Members Accept the Declaration from Mayor Menino with Paul Revere, Jr. Councilor Sal LaMattina and David Kubiak (1)

Four generations of the Dallin family standing in front of Cyrus Dallin’s Paul Revere! Dallin’s granddaughters are in the center of the group – Jean Dallin Doherty (green jacket) and Judith Dallin Cutts to her left.

Dallin Family Members Accept the Declaration from Mayor Menino with Paul Revere, Jr. Councilor Sal LaMattina and David Kubiak

Mayor Menino Reads the Declaration of Cyrus Dallin Day, joined by Event Organizer David Kubiak

(L-R) Old North Church Vicar Steve Ayers, Councilor Sal LaMattina, Mayor Tom Menino, Paul Revere Jr, Rep. Aaron Michlewitz and St Stephens Church Fr. Vincent Daily

Four Generations of the Dallin Family in front of Paul Revere Statue

Banner Across Hanover Street

NEMPAC and Eliot School Students Emma Burgueno, Maya Sen-Jennings and Griffin Black read Longfellow’s 1860 “Paul Revere Ride” (1)

Mayor Menino with Emma, Maya and Griffin

(L-R) Old North Church Vicar Steve Ayers, Councilor Sal LaMattina, Mayor Tom Menino, Paul Revere Jr, Rep. Aaron Michlewitz and St Stephens Church Fr. Vincent Daily

Michael, Michele, Jim and Stephanie from NEWRA and Friends of the Prado

NEMPAC Performs “America” with Jeremy Sarzana on Guitar

(L-R) Rev. Stephen Ayers, Paul Revere Jr. and Christine Sharbrough

Cyrus E. Dallin Art Museum

Cyrus Dallin’s Paul Revere Statue and The Prado

Three Generations of Paul Revere Jr, III and IV (and a guy with a hat)

(L-R) Rev. Stephen Ayers, City Councilor Sal LaMattina, Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Jean Dallin Doherty, Paul Revere Jr., Judith Dallin Cutts, State Rep. Aaron Michelwitz, Aimee Taberner, James McGough

Speaking on the Prado – Paul Revere Jr., President, Paul Revere Memorial Association

NEMPAC’s Christopher Schroder and Jeremy Sarzana

In front, Emma, Maya, Griffin and Joey. In back, Aaron, Steve, Tom, Sal and Paul. (Left to Right)

Cyrus E. Dallin’s Paul Revere Statue

Event Organizers and Participants

Mayor Menino Presents Declaration to Dallin’s Granddaughters Jean and Judith, joined by Paul Revere, Jr., Museum Founder James McGough and Councilor LaMattina

From the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum, Co-Chair Aimee Taberner (right) and Christine Sharbrough

Nina Zannieri, Exec. Dir. of the Paul Revere House Interrupted by a British Soldier

NEMPAC and Eliot School Students Emma Burgueno, Maya Sen-Jennings and Griffin Black read Longfellow’s 1860 “Paul Revere Ride”

James Pasto, Phylis Vitti and Alex Goldfeld, North End Historical Society

Event Organizer Anne Marie Pistorio Explains the Cyrus Dallin Banners

September 12, 1940 Dedication of the Paul Revere Statue on the Prado – Banner

Before the Prado 1917

Paul Revere Jr., President, Paul Revere Memorial Association

Gino and his wife on the Prado

North End’s State Rep. Aaron Michlewitz

The Prado – General Plan Banner

Father Vincent Daily, St. Stephen’s Church Gives the Benediction

Recognizing Cyrus E. Dallin

Rev. Stephen Ayers, Vicar, Old North Church Gives the Invocation

Nina Zannieri and Emily Holmes from the Paul Revere Memorial Association with Costumed Paul Revere

Event Program

Cyrus E. Dallin’s Paul Revere Statue with Old North in Background

Nina Zannieri, Exec. Dir. of the Paul Revere Memorial Association – “Paul Revere – The Man Behind the Myth”

Anne Marie Pistorio and DJ Sal Bartolo

Paul Revere Mall 1938

Councilor Sal LaMattina Speaks at the Cyrus Dallin Event

Joey Griffith, Eliot School 6th Grader, sings the National Anthem

Paul Revere, Jr. today (Left) and 9 years old at 1940 Statue Dedication (Right)

City Playground 1928

Hanover St Banner – The Prado in the LIfe of the Community

(L-R) Old North Church Vicar Steve Ayers, Councilor Sal LaMattina, Mayor Tom Menino, Paul Revere Jr, Rep. Aaron Michlewitz and St Stephens Church Fr. Vincent Daily

NEMPAC’s Exec Director Becca Griffin and a Piano Student

Paul Revere Jr., President, Paul Revere Memorial Association, Speaks on the Prado

Christine Sharbrough and Aimee Taberner, Cyrus E. Dallin Art Museum

NEMPAC’s Sherri Snow and Chris Schroeder on Trumpet

Organizing Committee and Participants

The Paul Revere Mall in Boston’s North End was the sight of an inspiring community celebration on Sunday, April 29, 2012, commemorating the great American sculptor, Cyrus Dallin, his internationally known landmark Paul Revere statue and the Prado park, designed by famed landscape architect Arthur Shurcliff and architect Henry Shepley.

The public event drew hundreds of residents and visitors, featuring presentations and exhibits by the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum of Arlington, MA, the Paul Revere Memorial Association, Old North Church, Friends of The Prado, the North End Historical Society, the North End Music and Performing Arts Center and the North End/Waterfront Residents’ Association.

The event comes 72 years after the original unveiling of Dallin’s Paul Revere statue on the Prado and marked by the 150th birthday of the artist. In 1883, Cyrus Dallin entered the competition for an equestrian statue of Paul Revere. He won the competition and received a contract, but four versions of his model were rejected. The fifth version was accepted in 1899, but fundraising problems delayed the project for decades. The full-size statue was unveiled in 1940 in the North End’s Prado, renamed the Paul Revere Mall.

Making the occasion especially special was participation by dozens of family members that descended from artist Cyrus Dallin and Paul Revere, including Cyrus’ granddaughters, Jean and Judith, and Paul Revere Jr., 81 (great-great-great grandson of the colonial hero). In total, there were 25 Dallin family members and three generations of Paul Reveres’ attending the celebration (Jr., III and IV). In 1940, when Dallin’s Paul Revere statue was first unveiled on the Prado, it was a 9 year-old Paul Revere, Jr. that helped pull off the sheet. Jean Dallin-Doherty, 17 years old at the time, was also there with her grandfather, Cyrus.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino declared “Cyrus Dallin Day” and presented a proclamation to the Dallin Family and Art Museum. Several local officials participated in the ceremony including City Councilor Sal LaMattina and State Rep. Aaron Michlewitz. Another special guest was James McGough, founder of the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum in Arlington, Mass.

Representing the bookend churches of the Prado, Rev. Stephen Ayers, Old North Church Vicar, gave the invocation and Fr. Vincent Daily of St. Stephen’s Church, delivered the benediction. NEMPAC instructors and students participated in multiple musical sections through the day, led by Executive Director Rebecca Griffin. Joey Griffith, Eliot School 6th grader, sang the National Anthem and three other Eliot students (Emma Burgueno, Maya Sen-Jennings and Griffin Black) read Longfellows’s famous 1860″Paul Revere Ride.”

The event was organized by many volunteers, led by NEWRA Parks and Open Spaces co-Chairs, David Kubiak and Anne Marie Pistorio, along with Aimee Taberner, co-chair of the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum.