The Black Cowboy Proposal

One of my often spoken sayings is that “Everything I have ever done, God will use to prepare me for the next thing He has for me to do.”

 

Thursday I met with a small committee from Houston- a historian, a cowgirl, and a custom prayer stool maker, who may have introduced me to “that next thing.” And afterwards they even prayed for me and the project they came to recruit me for… standing on the sidewalk in front of Classic Rock Coffee Company... These were messengers, seekers, believers. And they were driven by a Faith that as Jesus explained, can move mountains.
 

So it’s all about cowboys and the Texas horse culture and Houston heritage and Black History, and as they described their dream, I knew that I had been prepared all my life to do their sculpture. A sculpture, a monument, to the Black cowboy.

 A photo from one of my family photo albums. This cowboy worked
 on the Blakely Ranch, where my grandmother spent many happy times playing cowgirl.

If there was a significant ethnic group which was taken for granted at the time and then almost completely ignored by the American myth makers all through the golden age of “Westerns,” it was the Black cowboy. And citizens of Acres Homes in Houston have decided to fill the vacuum left by Western authors and filmmakers, and perhaps establish a new landmark on West Montgomery Road. And they came all the way up to Grimes County to see my works and ask me to help them.

The very subject, the precious committee of Black leaders, the honor they presented to me took me back, for a nanosecond, and then I saddled up like Gus after Lori darlin’. This is the announcement of a great new undertaking, for the folks at Acres Homes and the artist they will hire. And when we agree on a design, and a price, that will be me.

I have been especially honored before, by several “prestigious” major commissions, but none could be quite like this; the request for submissions that could result in a large monument, on a major thoroughfare, in the fourth largest city in America, and as it happens, my hometown.

 This is the first thing that comes to mind... ( this is a digital image 

I have created ) A traditional equestrian monument that would attract 

attention and even tourists, as it teaches our local heritage. But 

this would be the least visible from the highway and 

the most expensive alternative.

The whole process could take a year, even longer, and here is how the steps would progress:

1. Conceptualization: At least a month of design work, where ultimately three distinctly different ideas are illustrated, considered by those interested and one is finally selected.
2. Maquette: A scale model of the selected design will then be sculpted for the design committee, (one month) and when it is approved a 1/3 down payment will be made to start the actual monument original.
3. The Monument: Depending on which concept and material is decided upon, this process could take from three to five months.
4. Installation: Approximately five to seven months from now, if all goes well, the original sculpture should be complete. If it is welded steel, it will be ready for installation, which would take another month or so, weather permitting. If the original is clay, it must then be cast in bronze at a foundry and this adds as much as four to six months to the process.
5. Estimated costs at this point will be hard to establish with so many variables in size, possible processes and materials. But fund-raisers for the Black Cowboy Monument should prepare for a minimum of $34,000.00 for a welded steel sculpture, OR $50,000.00 for an installed cast bronze cowboy figure, and up to $120,000.00 for a figure mounted on a horse, with a stone pedestal.
    
    More "bang for the buck," a contemporary welded steel
   

    "sculpto-mural," ten feet high, would be more visible and 
   cost much less. No walkway, or pedestal necessary. The steel

   could be powder-coated or just allowed to rust. Very little up-keep.

   
   

As for now the research and development begins… a vulnerable time for the sculptor as a great deal of time and energy is required to create a vision of a monument which will find consensus among the committee and the community. Only then does the commission actually begin.

In the meantime I want to thank Reggie Brown for connecting me with Sandra Price and Tammie Terrell, the two devoted visionaries who will make this happen. And they can because they are bathing this dream in prayer, and depending on God, the Creator of the Universe, who brings all good things together.

You can follow the progress on this exciting project right here; Mission Control. So as the old buckaroos used to holler, “Let 'er rip!”

 Of course, a painted steel mural would be very effective,

 but would require maintenance over the years... But what a wonderful 
icon to greet travelers to the 
Greatest Cowboy Town in America!

So join  us prayer... and if you have ideas or money you want to contribute, contact Sandra Price at (713) 906-6401,