LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — Arkansas is ready to change its sculptures in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the U.S. Capitol, and sculptors have been selected. The two statues in the Hall, those of U.M. Rose and James P. Clarke, will be replaced with civil rights icon Daisy Gatson Bates and hall-of-fame musician Johnny Cash.
The selection review committee for the National Statuary Hall statues of Bates and Cash met Monday (June 14) to review and evaluate the final scores of the finalists for each sculpture. Based on these scores, the selection review committee recommended to Secretary of State John Thurston that Benjamin Victor of Boise, Idaho, be selected to design and create the statue of Bates. The selection review committee also recommended that Kevin Kresse of Little Rock be selected to design and create the statue of Cash.
Thurston reviewed and accepted the committee’s recommendations and will begin contractual negotiations with the selected respondents, he said. A timetable for completing the statues was not released. More than $500,000 was raised for the statue work, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in November.
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