糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Alumnus Kevin Kresse Prepares to Unveil Johnny Cash Statue to the World
Now that the long-awaited Johnny Cash statue is set to be unveiled on Sept. 24, the statue鈥檚 creator Kevin Kresse, famed Arkansas artist and 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock alumnus, feels only one thing 鈥� relief.
鈥淭he biggest thing I鈥檓 feeling is relief that he鈥檚 safe,鈥� Kresse said, while preparing the statue for transportation to Washington, D.C. 鈥淛ohnny鈥檚 actually been in Eureka Springs for the past year while they鈥檝e been working on the pedestal, and we鈥檝e been waiting for an unveiling date.鈥�
The Division of Arkansas Heritage has been housing the statue of the country music icon and Arkansas native in Little Rock until it is transported to Statuary Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, D.C. Cash will be the second Arkansan to be recognized with a statue on Capitol Hill this year after civil rights leader Daisy Bates was honored in May.
The first time that Kresse created a sculpture of Cash was in 2018 as part of a series of Arkansas musicians. Ever since presenting his idea for the Cash sculpture to the National Statuary Hall Steering Committee in 2020, Kresse has had plenty of time for his perception of Cash to evolve as people would share their stories of the star.
鈥淧eople who know that I鈥檝e been working on this would come up to me and tell me their Johnny Cash stories,鈥� Kresse said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of the nice things about being in a small state like Arkansas. It鈥檚 more stories of his kindness and generosity. He hadn鈥檛 talked about all these generous things he did like giving money to build chapels for prisons and orphanages and tucking money inside people鈥檚 bibles.鈥�
Kresse worked closely with Cash鈥檚 children to create the statue of the country music star.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 have asked for nicer people to work with,鈥� he said. 鈥淗is children helped me a lot through the process. I was able to send them photos throughout the whole process of crafting the sculpture to get their feedback. They were wonderful about being encouraging the whole time and giving their suggestions about how to make it better.鈥�
Roseanne Cash, a singer-songwriter and Cash鈥檚 oldest daughter, saw the bust of the statue for the first time on , when she received an honorary doctoral degree from Arkansas State University for her support in preserving the Cash childhood family home in Dyess.
鈥淪howing the bust to Roseanne for the first time was one of the highlights of this journey,鈥� Kresse recalled. 鈥淪he was so emotional, and that lets you know you are right on track.鈥�
Born in 1932 in Kingsland, Arkansas, Cash moved with his family at age 3 to live in the Eastern Arkansas farming community of Dyess, which was created in 1934 as part of President Franklin Roosevelt鈥檚 New Deal program. Arkansas State University restored the Cash family home and opened it as a museum in 2014. While Cash never lived to see his restored childhood home, Kresse said the idea of this served as inspiration for his statue.
鈥淭he idea was that Johnny had gone back to his childhood home,鈥� Kresse said. 鈥淭his is obviously a fantasy story of Johnny going through the restored home for the first time. He is looking over the fields, reliving the trauma of , and thinking about his success. It鈥檚 a very introspective, life-review moment that he is having. I wanted to make sure that there is plenty of humility and introspection in the pose. When people look up at him, Johnny will really be looking through them because he is lost in thought.鈥�
Kresse will arrive in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 20 to uncrate the statue, secure the statue to the plinth, and make final preparations for the ceremony.
鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult to capture a person in a single frozen moment,鈥� Kresse said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 such a worldwide icon. I hope that when people see it, they will feel the humanity in him and the sense that he would have treated a homeless person and a king the same way.鈥�