UA 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's creator Kevin Kresse, famed Arkansas artist and UA Little Rock alumnus, feels only one thing - relief.

"The biggest thing I'm feeling is relief that he's safe," Kresse said, while preparing the statue for transportation to Washington, D.C. "Johnny's actually been in Eureka Springs for the past year while they've been working on the pedestal, and we've been waiting for an unveiling date."

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 Emancipation 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.

"People who know that I've been working on this would come up to me and tell me their Johnny Cash stories," Kresse said. "That's one of the nice things about being in a small state like Arkansas. It's more stories of his kindness and generosity. He hadn't talked about all these generous things he did like giving money to build chapels for prisons and orphanages and tucking money inside people's bibles."

Kresse worked closely with Cash's children to create the statue of the country music star.

"I couldn't have asked for nicer people to work with," he said. "His 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."

Roseanne Cash, a singer-songwriter and Cash's oldest daughter, saw the bust of the statue for the first time on May 6, 2022, when she received an honorary doctoral degree from Arkansas State University for her support in preserving the Cash childhood family home in Dyess.

"Showing the bust to Roseanne for the first time was one of the highlights of this journey," Kresse recalled. "She was so emotional, and that lets you know you are right on track."

[Link]UA Little Rock alum Kevin Kresse, right, and assistant Nicole Stewart, left, work on a clay model of Arkansas music legend Johnny Cash at the Windgate Center of Art + Design. Photo by Ben Krain.

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's 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.

"The idea was that Johnny had gone back to his childhood home," Kresse said. "This 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 losing his brother, and thinking about his success. It's 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."

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.

"It's difficult to capture a person in a single frozen moment," Kresse said. "He's 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."

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