Professor Littleton Alston of Omaha, Neb., was selected in a national competition to create a sculpture of author Willa Sibert Cather to represent Nebraska in the National Statuary Hall Collection of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. He was overjoyed to have the opportunity.
Alston, 67, is the first African-American sculptor to be represented in the national collection.
A descriptive essay compiled by the Architect of the Capitol, the federal agency responsible for the maintenance, operation, development and preservation of the United States Capitol Complex, follows, in a slightly abridged form:
“Littleton Alston grew up in Washington. He and his brothers explored nearby neighborhoods and the National Mall on their bicycles, splashing through reflecting pools, eavesdropping on tours in the U.S. Capitol and subconsciously absorbing the monumental landscape and its public art.”
“Alston was intrigued by sculpture as a young child, and his mother, recognizing his artistic talent, took him to apply to the then-new high school – the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Despite long, cross-town commutes, Alston thrived and concluded his high school years by winning a senior art prize.”
“He earned a scholarship and attended Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, where he majored in sculpture. Alston completed an M.F.A. at the Maryland Institute College of Arts Rinehart Graduate School of Sculpture in Baltimore and then worked under several experienced sculptors.”
“Alston joined the faculty of Creighton University in Omaha in 1990 and is now a full professor of sculpture. He maintains a private studio in addition to teaching. Alston exhibits work regularly and has completed dozens of public commissions.
He was selected from more than 70 applicants to sculpt this statue of Cather.”
About the Willa Cather
statue:
“Alston depicts Cather at around age 40, when she began focusing on writing novels. He places her on the Nebraska prairie, drawing inspiration from the landscape during a ‘field research’ session. She grasps a walking stick as she strides forward, protected by a brimmed hat and sturdy shoes.”
“Cather
was born in Virginia. Her family moved to rural Red Cloud, Neb., when she was
9, and the new environment and people she met made an indelible impression on
her.”
“In the statue, the prairie seems to rise around Cather; grasses undulate around her feet while goldenrod, the state flower, clings to her skirt and directs the viewer’s gaze upward. The movement of the grasses and the flow of Cather’s skirt suggest the wind moving over the prairie.”
“A western meadowlark, Nebraska’s state bird, emerges from the goldenrod. It references Cather’s novel ‘Song of Lark’ (1915), which chronicles the development of an artist, and Alston considers the bird’s fluttering rise as being representative of the ‘startling of new creative genius.’”
“The
broken and half-buried wagon wheel behind Cather references the hard work and
challenges faced by Nebraska settlers struggling to survive the westward
journey and prairie existence described in such novels as ‘O Pioneers!’ (1913)
and ‘My Ántonia’ (1918).”
“Cather won a Pulitzer Prize for 1922’s “One of Ours,” inspired in part by a cousin’s death while fighting in World War I. ‘Death Comes for the Archbishop’ (1927), set in the desert southwest, often appears on lists of best modern literature.”
“Although
she lived in New York City for much of her adult life, Cather returned to Red
Cloud regularly until her mother’s death in 1931, reacquainting herself with
the people and places that inspired so much of her fiction.”
“Many critics and readers found her use of straightforward language to tell stories of hardworking ordinary men and women a refreshing alternative to much of the era’s literature, which tended to focus on cosmopolitan people of means whose problems were far removed from the settlers’ struggle.”
“In her left hand, Cather carries a pen and sheaf of papers, ready to record any inspiration that arises as she walks.”
“Cather’s writing career began when she was a student at the University of Nebraska. She worked on several collegiate publications and as a journalist and drama critic for Lincoln newspapers. After graduating, she worked as a journalist, critic and editor in Pittsburgh, Pa., and then at McClure’s in New York City, where she was the managing editor from 1908-12.
“Before she left full-time editorial work, she had met Edith Lewis, who was both her longtime companion and an editorial collaborator for Cather’s fiction. By the time of her death in 1947, Cather had written 12 novels, six collections of short fiction, two editions of a book of poetry, and numerous other works of nonfiction, collected journalism, speeches and letters.”
“Cather’s handwriting appears twice on the statue: in her signature on the self-base, and in a passage from ‘My Ántonia’ copied on the papers she carries: ‘Cautiously, I slipped from under the buffalo hide, got up on my knees and peered over the side of the wagon. There seemed to be nothing to see; no fences, no creeks or trees, no hills or fields. If there was a road, I could not make it out in the faint starlight. There was nothing but land: not a country at all, but the material out of which countries are made.’”
“The young narrator’s description of his arrival in Nebraska seems to match 9-year-old Cather’s response to her first experience of the vast plains.”
The bronze statue and granite pedestal stand 10 feet tall and weigh nearly 1,200 pounds.
A gold inscription on the front contains a brief passage from “O Pioneers!,” which reads: “The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman.”
The sculpture was unveiled on June 7, 2023.
.jpg)
