At the February 25 Board of Education meeting, New Jersey sculptor Blaise Batko donated a black granite sculpture of Webster’s Dictionary to the Millstone Board of Education. The sculpture, which weighs approximately 100 pounds, is 16” high x 14” wide x 4” deep, and captures the spirit of one of the building blocks of education.
“I wanted to give back to a community that has been so gracious to me over the years, and this is my way of saying thank you to all the residents of Millstone,” said Batko.
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Blaise Batko presenting this sculpture to Superintendent Scott Feder at the BOE meeting 2/25/13
“Millstone is a great community. It was such a pleasure to work with your veterans and to meet so many people here. You are patriots. You have a love for your country. My wife and I enjoy coming here on Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day because we get to stand with our veterans and get to stand with you folks. We just wanted to do something for you. You make us proud to be Americans!”
Millstone Superintendent Scott Feder thanked Batko for his generous donation to the school. The sculpture will be proudly displayed in the Middle School Media Center.
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Board President David DePinho also thanked Batko.
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“It is wonderful to have a such a beautiful tribute to the written word. On behalf of the community, we thank you very much,” DePinho said.
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Born and raised in South River, and a resident of Hamilton Square, Blaise attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Over 30 years of sculpting has led to over 200 exhibitions and over 40 one-man shows world-wide, including exhibitions in Japan and England. Listed in Who’s Who in American Art, he taught at the Newark Museum and Kean College, and has demonstrated and lectured throughout the country.
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Millstone Veterans Memorial
Batko is the sculptor of Millstone’s Veterans Memorial, which is a prominent and moving tribute to our national heroes. In addition, he designed the East Brunswick Veterans Memorial and a Korean War Memorial for the Squibb Corporation, New Brunswick. He also created the
September 11 Memorials in South River, East Brunswick, Old Bridge, Monroe Township and Middlesex. Blaise’s sculptures are proudly displayed in over 300 private collections throughout the world.
