Like many Clevelanders, sculptor David Deming grew-up knowing that one of the world's most famous super heroes was the creation of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster --- a couple of teenagers from the city's east side in the 1930s. When he got the assignment to create a statue of the Man of Steel, he wanted it to be a tribute to Siegel and Shuster.
DAVID DEMING: The original Superman just looked like a normal man, but pretty fit. My idea was to create that first Superman.
Deming's work is well-known around town --- from the statue of Indian's slugger Jim Thome at Progressive Field to the likeness of music writer Jane Scott at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But, for the past three years, the Man of Steel has been a secret project in his west side studio.
DAVID DEMING: We kept it under wraps until it felt like we now have a site that everybody feels real good about.
Planners are looking to put the statue at the base of the new Lakefront bridge, in the space between the Rock Hall and the Great Lakes Science Center. A twelve-foot long Superman will be depicted in flight and mounted on a base that rises 30 feet in the air. Although Deming usually works in bronze, he says the final version of Superman will be cast in --- what else ---stainless steel. Once the statue goes through city and countty design reviews, he estimates the final work could be ready to install towards toward the end of 2016.
Sculptor David Deming's work is well known to Clevelanders --- from the statue of Indians slugger Jim Thome at Progressive Field, to the likenesses of Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones at the V.A. Medical Center, and music writer Jane Scott at the Rock Hall, but his latest work has been under wraps for several years --- until today. Plans are moving forward for his sculpture of a 12-foot-long Superman in flight to be located at North Coast Harbor, at the base of the new Lakefront Bridge. We pay a visit to his west side studio to examine the work in progress, which will be cast in stainless steel.
