Statues of civil rights leader Daisy Bates and country singer Johnny Cash — two of Arkansas’ most celebrated icons — are headed to Washington, D.C., to represent the state in a U.S. Capitol display.
In 2019, then-Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed into law a bill that would swap out the state’s current statues at the Capitol’s National Statuary Hall Collection, which are of 19th-century attorney Uriah Rose and former Arkansas Gov. and Sen. James P. Clarke, with the statues of Bates and Cash.
During the Civil War, Rose opposed leaving the Union but was loyal to Arkansas and the Confederacy; while Clarke was a white supremacist who was governor of the state and then a senator.
About the replacement, Hutchinson said history has to reflect the state and reflect more contemporary times.
“They really reflect our heritage, from music to changes to and leadership in the civil rights era. And whenever you think about Johnny Cash, Johnny Cash, the Man in Black, reflects the common people, reflects the struggles of life, with the Bible in hand reflects his gospel heritage. And all of that is Arkansas,” Hutchinson said.
Little Rock-based artist Kevin Kresse was chosen from a pool of contestants to sculpt the statue of Cash.
“Several years ago, when I was one of the three finalists for the Johnny Cash statue, I created a three-foot-tall maquette full figure model to present to the committee. And now that has been cast in bronze. That was the basis that I used to enlarge to what will be in the US Capitol, which will be an eight feet tall sculpture,” Kresse said.
Kresse also said that he thinks this is a perfect time for a statue of Cash to be resurrected in the U.S. Capitol due to the contention in Congress.
“Johnny just has this element about him that he just projects non-judgment love. He never saw people as someone important, someone less important. He really saw people as just people,” Kresse said.