Eight finalists have been selected to create two statues on the UT campus of distinguished civil rights leaders Barbara Jordan and Cesar Chavez. The statues are expected to be completed in 2007 and will bring gender and ethnic diversity to the artwork prominently displayed throughout campus.
Sherri Sanders, associate dean of students, said the works will form "a lasting impression that this is a very inclusive community we have." She explained that student organizations sparked the initial idea for both statues.
Sanders said that the selection process involved hundreds of artists nationwide. For each project, four applicants were selected as finalists, and there will ultimately be one artist for each statue. The Texas Commission on the Arts assisted in the selections by providing four jurists specialized in sculpture; there was also a knowledgeable student jurist on each project.
Each finalist must now submit a small model of their conceptualized idea by mid-August. Throughout the months of September and October, these models will be displayed on campus, and the entire UT community will have the chance to provide feedback to the selection committees. The final artists for each project should be announced by mid-December or January of next year.
In the fall of 2002, the new members of the service organization Orange Jackets were concerned that there were no prominent artworks of any identifiable women on campus. They decided that a statue of Barbara Jordan would be an ideal choice, because she was the first black woman from the South to serve in the U.S. Congress, and following her political career, she spent 17 years teaching at the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs.
The statue is planned to be built underneath the Battle Oaks near 24th and Whitis streets.
Margarita M. Arellano, associate dean of students, explained that We're Texas Too, the Mexican American Culture Committee and the Latino Leadership Council collaborated on the idea for the Cesar Chavez statue.
In 2003 they teamed up with Student Government, the Orange Jackets and the student body to pass a fee referendum to create a bronze statue of the activist labor leader. The proposed site is on the south side of the West Mall. Arellano said this site was chosen by the students because the protesting that goes on there today is synonymous with the activism of Chavez's life.
Both statues are being funded through a $2 statue fee that has been included in every semester's tuition since spring 2004. The statue fee is expected to raise $390,000 per statue. After the construction of the statues is complete, the remaining funds will be used to create endowments in the names of Jordan and Chavez.
For more information on each project visit their Web sites at www.cesarchavezstatue.org and www.utbarbarajordanstatue.org.
Finalists for Barbara Jordan statue: Erik Blome - Crystal Lake, Ill. Kim Crowley - Santa Fe, N.M. Eddie Dixon - Lubbock, Texas David Newton - Dallas, Texas
Finalists for Cesar Chavez statue: Tina Allen - North Hills, Calif. Littleton Alston - Omaha, Neb. Pablo Eduardo - Gloucester, Mass. Bruce Wolf - Piedmont, Calif.
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