Sculpture of President Obama unveiled in Rapid City, South Dakota
Statue joins 43 other past presidents, and includes a sentimental nugget references his 2008 election
Rapid City, South Dakota honored our forever POTUS, Barack Obama, with a life-sized bronze statute of him and his daughter, Sasha.
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Rapid City, South Dakota, has honored our forever POTUS with a life-sized bronze statute.
According to CNN, former President Barack Obama can now be seen as part of the City of Presidents project, a downtown district collection of presidential sculptures that celebrate numerous past presidents. Obama’s sculpture, created by artist James Van Nuys, was unveiled on Saturday for the public.
Obama’s statue features him waving one hand and holding his daughter Sasha’s hand with his other hand. The finished rendering took nearly two years to complete – which is well over the nine months organizers from the private group had hoped to have it done.
One reason for the delay is the initial idea was to depict Obama standing, and waving but some found this to be too boring.
“One of us said, ‘This is boring. This is not going to have the wow factor,’” Dallerie Davis, the group’s co-founder, told CNN. “A man waving is not a showstopper.”
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Van Nuys told CNN that the new idea was inspired by the election night photo in 2008 when a jubilant Obama and Sasha walked onto a stage set up at Chicago’s Grant Park on the night he was elected president.
Obamas’ statue is the fourth one created by Van Nuys, according to KOTA News.
The sculptures are privately funded and part of the Rapid City Historic District tour. Since 2000, sculptures have been placed in downtown Rapid City to honor the legacy of 43 presidents. According to the project website, they are placed in a “coherent structure” to “eliminate any sense of favoritism or political gain.”
It’s not known yet where the Obama statue will be installed.
Visitors can read more about each of the presidents by purchasing the More than Presidents book, which gives an insider look into the personal lives of each of the presidents.
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