I found out about Golden Boy when I was drinking coffee, hanging at the The Joule Hotel’s famous TASCHEN BOOKSTORE in Downtown Dallas. I was waiting for a friend and we were going to explore “Pegasus Plaza”, one of the coolest Parks on the corner of Akard and Main. The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture along with a donation from the famous film actress and Dallas resident, Greer Garson, help to create this secret sacred space.
Rare period mosaics are installed in the Taschen Library Book Store. This alone is worth a trip to experience the Joule hotel. The hotel is set in a 1920s Neo-Gothic Downtown building and next door to the original Neiman Marcus Store, this designer boutique makes a splash with it’s hip rooftop lounge and glass-bottomed party pool. The hotel lobby’s artisan coffee bar is accessible from the recently-constructed entrance off Commerce Street across from Golden Boy!
I struck up a conversation with the Valet kid and we talked about going to say Hi to Jesus, the Beautiful Mosaic behind the alter at St. Jude’s Chapel directly across the street (ANOTHER COOL EXPERIENCE).
The Valet Kid mentioned “Golden Boy”. Really? I walked across Commerce street and checked him out. Holy Cow, completely awesome…another little secret place here. This truly is a historic and powerful part of Downtown Dallas!
Formally known as the “Genius of Telegraphy”, and “Spirit of Communication,” was sculptured by famous woman artist, Evelyn Beatrice Longman. This piece of EARLY AMERICAN MODERN ART, a 28-foot golden statue, was quietly dismantled and moved to Dallas, where it now sits in the lobby of AT&T’s (American Telephone & Telegraph) Global Headquarters. “He’s always been wherever our headquarters is,” said Spokeswoman Ellen Webner. “He’s had quite an interesting history.” The nomadic statue has been a popular symbol of the telecommunications company for nearly 100 years. The gold-leaf covered statue weighs 18,000 pounds and depicts an Art Deco winged figure holding up a handful of lightning bolts. The perfect symbol for this Aquarian Age!
It was first displayed in NYC atop the AT&T headquarters on 195 Broadway in 1916, where it stood for more than 64 years. It was moved to another Manhattan location on Madison Avenue in 1983. Golden Boy has resided at AT&T’s Bedminster NJ offices since then, before being moved to Texas — which Webner said was a complicated process. “The statue comes apart into six sections – the body, the two wings, the head, neck and the left arm, which holds the lightning bolts,” she said. “The statue was dismantled, shipped to Dallas and carefully reconstructed over a two-day period.” Webner said Golden Boy resides inside the lobby of the company’s global headquarters on Akard Street in Dallas because “he’s delicate.”
Like me, Golden Boy was born in New York and now resides in Dallas. The Grace of Karma.
