Artists, design chosen as sculpture honoring Duane Zemper enters next phase

The Duane Legacy Project committee, formed to memorialize the enormous contribution to Howell by the man fondly known as “Zemp,” has selected artists and a sculpture design.

After a nationwide request for proposal, the sculpture team of Colin & Kristine Poole of Santa Fe, New Mexico, was chosen from eight finalists.

The Pooles are nationally renowned and have family and roots in Livingston County. The husband-and-wife team have numerous accomplishments, including corporate commissions for such notable clients as the National Audubon society, The Nature Conservancy, PBS, the US Postal Service and others.

After an extensive design process involving the Pooles and the committee, the bronze sculpture the Pooles will create is a “larger than life” Duane Zemper in his later years, dressed in his familiar sweater and bolo tie.

An honored photographer, Duane Zemper valued education and was a co-founded of the Howell Archives.  In the sculpture, Mr. Zemper will be holding his camera and leaning on a tall pile of books. Always proud of his perfect 66-year perfect attendance, his Rotary pin will be on his sweater.

When completed, the sculpture will be installed on the lawn of the Howell Carnegie District Library. The goal of the committee is to have the sculpture completed and installed by the end of 2018

Duane Zemper’s preservation of photographs taken by his predecessors and those he took throughout his career have recorded the area’s history for future generations. He was a photographer in WWII before moving to Howell in 1946, where he was an active community member until his death in 2016.

He was a founding member of the Howell Athletic Boosters and the Howell Archives and was named Citizen of the Year in 1976.

The project is a collaboration between the Howell Rotary Club, community members and the Howell Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation.  The Chamber Foundation is the fiduciary for the project.

According to Chairman Mike Hall, the final phase of fundraising is underway. “We are seeking contributions of any size from the community as well as a few more significant contributions from area business leaders and community members.”  Donors of $500 to $5,000 and above will be memorialized on a bronze plaque adjacent to the statue.

For more information on the project and the life of Duane Zemper, or to make a contribution, go to www.zemplegacy.org or contact Mike Hall at (517) 546-1600.

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The Livingston Post is the only locally owned, all-digital information and opinion site in Livingston County, Mich. It was launched by award-winning journalists who were laid off from the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus by Gannett Co. Inc. in 2009.