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Events planned with sculptors of Daisy Bates, Johnny Cash statues

Kevin Kresse (left) works on a small model of the Johnny Cash statue at his studio in North Little Rock, while Benjamin Victor poses with a full size clay model of the Daisy Bates statue which he'll be working on next week in Little Rock.
Brian Chilson-Arkansas Times
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Benjamin Victor
Kevin Kresse (left) works on a small model of the Johnny Cash statue at his studio in North Little Rock, while Benjamin Victor poses with a full size clay model of the Daisy Bates statue which he'll be working on next week in Little Rock.

Work is progressing on statues of civil rights leader Daisy Bates and singer Johnny Cash which will eventually represent Arkansas in the U.S. Capitol. In the coming week, the artists selected to create the statues are scheduled to take part in events at the Windgate Center of Art + Design on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

The Arkansas Secretary of State’s office has announced the public is invited to watch as sculptor Benjamin Victor works on the 7-foot-6-inch clay model of Bates on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Previous work on the model, which will be used to cast the bronze statue, has been done in Victor’s home studio in Boise, Idaho.

Meanwhile, work is advancing on the statue of Cash. Sculptor Kevin Kresse says after getting final approval of the design from the U.S. Capitol architect, he took a three foot moquette of the statue to a foundry in Oklahoma this month to create the eight-foot clay model. After a year of laboring on the project, Kresse says he’s finally content with the design.

“No one can kick yourself harder than yourself as far as an artist is concerned but I finally got to a point where I kept circling and circling [the moquette] and…. I feel alright about this now,” Kresse said in an interview with KUAR News. “That’s a rare place for me to be, but I feel good about things.”

Kresse and Victor are to discuss the process of creating the statues during an event hosted by the Political Animals Club on Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Windgate Center. Reservations are required for the event, which costs $25 and can be made here.

Each state has two statues on display in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol. Arkansas’ are more than a century old and are of attorney Uriah Rose and former governor and U.S. Sen. James P. Clarke. In 2019, with the strong backing of Gov. Asa Hutchinson, the state legislature approved replacing them with Cash and Bates.

WATCHING WORK ON THE BATES STATUE

The public can watch Victor work on the Bates statue at the Windgate Center of Art + Design on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2801 S. University Avenue.

The days and times are:

  • Monday, April 25, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Tuesday, April 26, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
  • Thursday, April 28, 1 pm. to 3 p.m.
As News Director, Michael Hibblen oversees daily news coverage for KUAR. He handles assignments for the news staff, helps develop story ideas and edits copy. Michael isresponsible for starting a news-sharing partnership between public radio stations in Arkansas in 2009 which laid the foundation for what became Arkansas Public Media. He is also a regular panelist and fill-in host on AETN's Arkansas Week, where journalists discuss issues in the news.
Formally KUAR, news from the staff of content partners Little Rock Public Radio at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. They are a NPR member station.