Rubins created the sculpture for a state-sponsored art competition; his purpose was to memorialize the lives of Indiana coal miners.

[1] Rubins delivered an address at the ceremony of approximately 100 guests, which included colleagues, collectors, former students, and friends of the artist and IMA staff.

[4] As a young man, he apprenticed with James Earle Fraser before moving on to study at Dartmouth College and the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design in New York.

[5] The bronze sculpture is monitored, cleaned, and treated regularly by the IMA art conservation staff.

The surface of the bronze is protected from deterioration and corrosion by the yearly application of a fresh coat of hard wax.