Cabriole

Cabriole was brought to Charleston in 1981 as part of an initiative to expand the city's public sculpture. Kanawha Valley Bank donated the bronze work, which was created by Jimilu Mason. Mason was an American sculptor most famous for her busts of notable political figures. She was a favorite artist of Lyndon B. Johnson, who commissioned Mason to create several portraits of himself. Though Mason often worked in marble, she frequently completed bronze casts as well. This process involved sculpting a model from clay, creating a mold from the model, and then using the mold to cast the completed bronze. Cabriole is a remarkable technical achievement using this process. The sculpture meets its polished granite base at only a single point, despite there being three figures. Though a common misconception about the work is that the figures are divers, they are actually ballet dancers. Cabriole is a ballet move where a foot is lifted into the air, the other foot meets it, and then the second foot is used to land. Due to its almost forty year exposure to the elements, Cabriole was restored in 2018. Conservators from McKay Lodge Laboratory completed the conservation work and applied a layer of wax to help prevent further damage to the sculpture.