Vice President Kamala Harris will be the first U.S. vice president to be immortalized in wax at the famed Madame Tussauds museum in New York City.
On Wednesday — the same day President Joe Biden give his first joint address to Congress and their 100th official day in service from the White House — the museum released photos of work that has been completed so far on clay busts of Harris and Biden.
The busts are being created in London by the artists of the museum. They take more than six weeks and hundreds of photos to complete. The full-body wax figures take four to six months.
The New York museum commonly displays wax models of presidents, but Harris is the first vice president to be featured in such a manner.
“It’s a huge honor to be sculpting Kamala Harris, and to get to this stage has been quite a journey,” said Vicky Grant, one of the sculptors, in a video shared with media.
“Careful, there’s glass on the floor again…@KamalaHarris will be the FIRST vice president to be immortalized by Madame Tussauds Wax Museum!” officials shared on Twitter.
“I feel like the most important features of Kamala Harris to get right are not only her lovely, warm and welcoming smile, but also her eyes,” said Grant, “because I feel like she’s so engaging when she smiles, she actually smiles with her eyes as well.”
Fashion designer Christopher John Rogers, who designed Harris’ coat and dress for her inauguration, will design the outfit for her wax figure, which will be accented with gold and pearl jewelry.
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The wax figure of President Biden will be dressed in a blue suit by Ralph Lauren, who also dressed him for the inauguration. The outfit will be a replica of that day.
The New York Madame Tussauds Wax Museum opened in Times Square in 2000. The museum closed for months last year during the coronavirus pandemic; when it reopened, it placed the wax figure of Donald Trump in the lobby — wearing a mask.
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