The Awakening was created by J. Seward Johnson, Jr. and originally installed at Hains Point (East Potomac Park), Washington, D.C. in 1980 for the International Sculpture Conference Exhibition. Although its National Park Service "temporary permit" had long expired, the statue remained for 27 years at the southern end of Hains Point, across the Potomac River from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The statue was positioned in a large, flat, open field. The Awakening after its move to National Harbor The Awakening on display at Siracusa, Italy, in June 2009. In 2007, the National Park Service announced that the sculpture would be moved to the National Harbor, after the artist sold the statue for $750,000. The sculpture was excavated and removed from Hains Point on February 20, 2008, and then was installed at National Harbor in a configuration to correct scale issues that existed in the original sculpture. On October 10, 2009, a second casting of The Awakening was unveiled in Chesterfield, Missouri. The second sculpture is 70 feet long and 17 feet tall at its highest point