In 1963, Mallary applied for a Guggenheim grant which he was assigned in 1964. He wrote in his proposal: “I have never aspired to be ‘way out’ for its own sake or at the expense of more important values. Rather, my continuing ideal is a subtle and fruitful intermingling of the old and the new. For instance, I would like to combine junk art profusion with the symphonic, structural tradition of Cubism. Casting these assemblages in bronze enables me to link up with the even older tradition of bronze casting.”