What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1082544
FEATURE 8 WHAT'S UP! FEBRUARY 17-23, 2019 Resurrecting History LYNN KUTTER Special to What's Up! B art Taylor, park interpreter for Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park, was a boy when he first saw a diorama of the Civil War battle at Prairie Grove at the park's visitor center. Today, Taylor is leading an effort to restore the 25-year-old diorama to bring it back to share with the public. "It's one of those things that got me hooked on Civil War history when I saw it when I was 10 years old," Taylor says, marveling at the journey that has brought him back to the diorama as an adult. "It's weird that I'm working on it. That's full circle," he says. "It got me into buying my own soldiers, which got me into where I am today." The diorama had four panels, each one about 71 inches by 46 inches. Three of the panels have been disassembled and placed in storage for now. One was left intact, and this is the panel that Taylor, three college interns and several volunteers are restoring in a maintenance building located in another area on park property. When the diorama is finished, it will be placed in Hindman Hall Museum at the state park as a new temporary exhibit. Eventually, Taylor says, the state park plans to find a permanent spot for the diorama. One idea is to place it in the Borden House. Another idea, he says, is to place the structure on wheels and use it as a program in schools. The long-term plan, Taylor says, is to restore the other three panels, and all will be on display at some point in the future. When will depend on time and money. Taylor says he believes the diorama is important for several reasons. For one, it is nostalgic. Another reason is to continue to tell the story for future generations. The new display will have a 1 to 72 scale and show the scene of the Battle of Prairie Grove about mid-morning during the first run up the ridge to the Borden House. Taylor says about 50 percent of the casualties occurred during this time. There will be some changes in the diorama to make it more historically accurate, Taylor says. One change will be to add the First National Flag of the Confederacy. Other work will include filling in the ground cover and adding more trees. State park restoring Prairie Grove Battle diorama NWA Democrat-Gazette / LYNN KUTTER More soldiers have been added to the diorama of the Battle of Prairie Grove during the restoration work that is currently under way. One of the scenes (see inset photo) from a 25-year-old diorama of the Battle of Prairie Grove shows soldiers made of soft metal and hand-painted by David Shepherd of Fayetteville, a former park interpreter.