The statue of Johnny Cash was lowered into position early Tuesday at the atg Pavilion in North Little Rock. All photos: Michael Hibblen
Before dawn Tuesday, a crane lifted an 8-foot-tall bronze statue of Johnny Cash — an exact replica of the one representing Arkansas in the U.S. Capitol — onto a pedestal at a newly constructed pavilion in North Little Rock.
After working with a crew to adjust its position, sculptor Kevin Kresse got on his knees to help bolt the statue in place. Among those assisting were several people who have spent years working to make the project a reality.
As the sun began to rise, the group applauded the completion of a key part of the project ahead of Friday’s grand opening of the atg Pavilion at the plaza being renamed the Argenta Music Complex.
The Cash statue will serve as an anchor on the west side of the pavilion, facing Main Street. Eventually, the pavilion will house 21 sculptures honoring 20 musicians and music industry executive Al Bell. Their work helped shape American music across genres including classical, blues, gospel, country, soul and rock.
Standing behind the statue, which features a guitar slung across Cash’s back, Kresse was asked how the setting compared with the U.S. Capitol, where the original was unveiled in September 2024.
“It’s outside, it’s in my hometown. In the Capitol, he’s up against a column, so this is actually one of my favorite views, from behind — such an iconic Johnny Cash view here. And then I love that the moon’s up above with the sunrise,” Kresse said, looking toward the sky. “This is special. Incredibly special.”
The six busts installed Tuesday were first arranged on the floor with a diagram showing how each would be secured to its pedestal.
Workers then brought out six wrapped bronze busts Kresse created of Glen Campbell, Al Green, Levon Helm, Louis Jordan, Florence Price and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, which were placed atop their pedestals. Etched on the back of each bust are the musician’s name, birth and death years, and an outline of Arkansas with a star marking the person’s hometown.
Plaques identifying the honorees are also being installed, providing visitors with information about the musicians, including those whose sculptures are not part of the first group being unveiled.
Eventually, likenesses of Big Bill Broonzy, Albert King, Jimmy Driftwood, Lefty Frizzell, Ronnie Hawkins, Scott Joplin, Charlie Rich, Granny Almeda Riddle, Pharoah Sanders, William Grant Still, Conway Twitty, Sonny Boy Williamson and Howlin’ Wolf will be added.
John Gaudin, the project’s campaign chair, said the pavilion will be an important addition to the neighborhood where he has lived and worked for years.
“I see it as a real gem in the crown in the arts district,” Gaudin said. “From an economic and tourism development perspective, that was a big deal for me to get involved in it.”
His friendship with Kresse and admiration for his work also played a role.
“I think he’s one of the top sculptors in the country, and to be able to have the ability to showcase some of his work, it was just hard to kind of pass up for me to not get involved,” Gaudin said.
At one point Tuesday, Kresse’s wife, Bridget, noted that it was Gaudin’s birthday, prompting the group to sing “Happy Birthday” to him.
John Gaudin and Greg Spradlin examine the bust of drummer and singer Levon Helm after it was placed on a pedestal Tuesday. Born in Elaine, Arkansas, Helm became best known as a member of The Band.
Kevin Kresse adjusts the placement of his bust of Louis Jordan, who was born in Brinkley and became a popular jazz and jump blues saxophonist, singer and bandleader from the 1930s through the 1950s.
Kresse traces the origins of the project to 2018, when he unveiled a bust of Helm in Marvell. That experience led him to consider how many other influential Arkansas musicians had received relatively little recognition in their home communities.
Working with musician Greg Spradlin and radio host Stephen Koch, Kresse began developing a broader effort to honor the state’s musical heritage.
An important component of the project is a plan to create duplicate bronze busts for installation in the musicians’ hometowns or communities closely associated with them.
Cash grew up in Dyess, Helm was from Marvell, Campbell was born in Billstown near Delight, and Tharpe was born in Cotton Plant. Other communities with connections to the honorees include Brinkley, Pine Bluff, Forrest City, Helena, El Dorado, Mountain View and Texarkana.
Gaudin said the first communities expected to receive sculptures are Pine Bluff and Brinkley, potentially next spring.
Spradlin said he was pleased to see this phase of the project nearing completion after years of discussions.
“It’s amazing. It’s finally happening, you know, something that Kevin’s been talking about for a long time, and we’ve been talking about for a long time,” Spradlin said. “I don’t think it could be more perfect than it is where it is right now, and that it’s finally happening. It’s a dream come true.”
Kevin Kresse positions his bust of Forrest City native Al Green on a pedestal Tuesday. Green became one of the most successful soul singers of the 1970s, writing and recording a string of hits.
Born in Little Rock, Florence Price became a pioneering classical composer and the first Black woman to have a composition performed by a major American symphony orchestra.
Spradlin said working with Kresse on the Helm memorial inspired them to find ways to honor additional legendary Arkansas musicians.
“I’ve been crawling around graveyards since I was 16 years old, following the music and the musicians, and think that Arkansas has never really acknowledged the icons that we’ve produced for the world,” Spradlin said. “The fact that they’re getting a home here, it’s tremendous.”
The approximately $3 million project broke ground May 11 and was developed through a partnership involving North Little Rock Tourism, the nonprofit Argenta Arts Foundation and private supporters.
Scott and Ruth Landers, owners of Applied Technology Group, are among the principal backers, and the pavilion is named for their company. North Little Rock Tourism funded construction of the pavilion, while private donations are paying for the sculptures.
Construction has progressed rapidly in recent months, with workers assembling an elaborate steel structure that required welding during the hottest part of the summer, when temperatures were hovering around 100 degrees.
Workers assemble the steel framework of the pavilion Sept. 6.
With the temperature around 100 degrees, a worker welds steel beams together during construction of the pavilion Sept. 6.
Kresse said his original vision for the pavilion was considerably different from the structure now standing. He initially suggested something resembling a barn to reflect the humble beginnings of many of the musicians being honored.
As the design evolved, the pavilion took on what he described as the appearance of a church or temple, with the sculptures elevated above ground level.
“To me, it’s almost a perfect metaphor for their lives, starting off very simply, humbly, in so many of these small towns in Arkansas, and [they] went out and influenced the world,” Kresse said. “And then you see their influence in so many of the musicians coming behind them.”
The structure, he said, is a fitting tribute to artists whose accomplishments have not always received the recognition they deserve in their home state.
“To put these artists on a pedestal, metaphorically, and know that they really deserve this type of honor,” Kresse said.
One mistake was discovered on the pedestal where the Cash statue was placed Tuesday. The pedestal is identical to the one in the U.S. Capitol, featuring lyrics from the song “Man in Black” on one side and a quotation on the other, but Cash’s birth year was incorrectly listed as 1935. He was born in 1932.
It’s unclear how the mistake occurred, but Kresse was unfazed, saying such errors happen.
“It will get fixed, so I’m not worried about it. Those are small potatoes in the big scheme of things,” Kresse said. “That’s fixable and, you know, it’s not like the bronze and he’s missing a hand or anything like that.”
Organizers said the error likely will not be corrected in time for Friday’s ceremony.
Kresse said initial plans called for unveiling subsequent busts in groups once a year, but they now may be installed in pairs as he completes them.
“We’ll keep adding to the menu, and then word of mouth can spread about this really cool thing that’s happening in Argenta,” Kresse said.
Duplicate castings of the initial busts have already been made for hometown installations, he said, although a second Florence Price bust is not being produced during the first round.
Kevin Kresse marks where the bust of Pike County native Glen Campbell will be secured to its pedestal. An identical bust is planned for the Delight Branch Library in Campbell’s hometown.
A bust of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who grew up in Cotton Plant and became a pioneering gospel singer and guitarist whose music helped shape rock ‘n’ roll. An identical bust is planned for Cotton Plant.
Sculptures of Big Bill Broonzy and Albert King are at the foundry Kresse uses to cast his work, he said, while he is about halfway through creating the clay model of Howlin’ Wolf.
Kresse hopes the hometown installations will encourage communities to develop additional attractions celebrating their musical connections.
“Hopefully that’s not gonna be, you know, the end-all, be-all,” he said. “It’ll hopefully just be a catalyst for more things to happen in the towns.”
He said the arrival of tourists could encourage communities to expand beyond the sculptures.
“It’s like anything, you gotta take a first step, and then I think if they see tourists coming, they’ll want to do more to accommodate that and build up.”
Organizers also envision expanding the educational aspects of the North Little Rock pavilion, potentially including programs for children and a museum devoted to Arkansas music.
“I’m just dreaming again, you know, but have a museum for Arkansas music,” Kresse said. “Really expand upon this cultural gold mine that we’ve been sitting with.”
Gaudin said fundraising continues for the pavilion, the hometown installations and the broader Arkansas Music Trail.
For Kresse, the project has grown far beyond what he initially imagined.
“It’s just so much bigger than what I was originally dreaming of,” he said. “That’s what really can catch me off guard and kind of take my breath away sometimes.”
The grand opening will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. Friday and will also mark the reopening of the Argenta Music Complex. North Little Rock Tourism says the celebration will include live music, food trucks, family-friendly activities and interactive exhibits.
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
Thirty years ago, Willie Nelson rolled into Glenwood, Ark. for an appearance on local radio combo KWXI-AM 670/KWXE-FM 104.5. A large crowd of cheering fans showed up with signs and red bandannas. Willie did not disappoint them, making the event on June 9, 1996 one of the most memorable days for the community.
Willie Nelson being escorted inside the Glenwood radio stations by Music/Programming Director Anna Donahue (right) on June 9, 1996. Photo: The Glenwood Herald
Nelson and four longtime members of his band arrived about an hour late aboard a pair of buses named Red Headed Stranger and Honeysuckle Rose III, according to a story by The Glenwood Herald. Stepping off his bus at Reggie Jones Plaza, where the radio studios were located, Nelson waved to the crowd and walked inside with harmonica player Mickey Raphael, rhythm guitarist Jody Payne and piano-playing sister Bobbie Nelson.
“We had to lock the doors, so many people were trying to come in,” former station owner Tom Nichols said this week while recalling the event.
They played live music for about 90 minutes with some banter between each song with Nichols and Music/Programming Director Anna Donahue. Afterward, Nelson ventured into the crowd and “courteously posed for pictures and stayed in the parking lot signing guitars, photographs, bandanas and anything else that was presented to him until no one was left,” the newspaper reported.
What inspired the legendary singer and songwriter to visit the city of less than 2,000 people for the promotional event was a letter from Donahue along with enthusiasm by Nelson for his new album “Spirit.” It had been released five days earlier.
“I talked it over with the band and we decided the best way to sell this album was door to door,” Nelson said on the air.
“Spirit” was his first album for British-based Island Records, which had never released an album by a country performer. It’s a stripped down acoustic record with a Spanish influence. It’s now considered a masterpiece and Nelson has said it’s his favorite album among his own recordings.
According to a story by The Glenwood Herald that ran a few days before Nelson’s visit, Donahue had written a letter the previous year to Waylon Jennings, a member of the supergroup the Highwaymen, which also included Nelson, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson. The letter was in response to an interview in which they complained that despite strong concert attendance, radio stations were not willing to play new Highwaymen recordings.
She said record labels were only providing promotional copies of CDs to about 300 radio stations. “We would play the fire out of the CDs if we had them,” she wrote, “but our station, like about 2,500 other stations in the country, is not on the right list. We miss the days when radio and artists realized they needed each other and record labels treated radio stations the same.”
She was then contacted by a representative of Nelson in the fall of 1995 to set up the visit to Glenwood the following year as the kick off of a promotional tour for the album. But not everyone was convinced the music icon was really coming. Station owner Nichols says he didn’t believe it at first. “If truth be known, I was also skeptical,” reporter Mike McCoy wrote in his follow up article for the newspaper after Nelson’s visit.
Nelson and his four bandmates first performed every song from his new album. Donahue at one point told Willie that a song he had just played was a “two-box of hankies tear jerker.”
He responded, “Yeah, it’s a real wrist slasher,” to laughter.
Then Nelson began taking requests from listeners calling in and played some of his biggest hits and took. Songs included “You Were Always On My Mind,” “Seven Spanish Angels,” “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” and “Georgia.”
The newspaper described how Nelson “spoke softly, politely and was so modest one would never have known that this man had written songs for Patsy Cline and Faron Young, returned to Texas and stormed the nation from the Armadillo World Headquarters rock palace in Austin, and then gone on to star in movies with such stars as Robert Redford, Jane Fonda and Dian Cannon.”
KWXI/KWXE owners Polly and Tom Nichols pose for a photo with WiIlie Nelson. Photo: Tom Nichols collection
Nelson was originally scheduled to stay overnight in the community. He was to have arrived the night before the radio appearance, staying at Rivers Edge Bed and Breakfast in Caddo Gap. He was also planning to play golf at the Glenwood Country Club. But plans fell through and he and his entourage didn’t arrive until 7:30 a.m. on that Sunday morning. They still spent time at Rivers Edge to relax on the banks of the Caddo River and have lunch.
After the event at the Glenwood radio station was over and the last autograph was signed, Nichols says one bus with Nelson and members of his entourage left for Nashville where he was to attend an awards show. The other bus with members of his band turned back toward Texas where Nelson is based.
The two radio stations, which were once the broadcasting voice of Glenwood, are no longer in the community. After being sold by Nichols, the FM 104.5 signal was moved to Hot Springs where it’s used by a religious broadcaster. The most recent owner of the AM 670 signal, a Texarkana man, ended up in bankruptcy and the station is currently off the air. It’s unclear if the license has been officially surrendered to the FCC.
Now at age 93, Nelson has outlived his contemporaries, continues touring and released his latest album “Dream Chaser” on May 29.
This story was published in the June 5, 2026 issue of The Glenwood Herald. Tom Nichols is trying to find a recording of the broadcast so that we can share that audio here.
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
The tombstone for Glen Campbell and his wife Kimberly at the family’s cemetery in Billstown. Photos: Michael Hibblen
Wednesday, April 22, would have been Glen Campbell’s 90th birthday. The music legend was born in the unincorporated Pike County community of Billstown and is buried in his family’s cemetery there. But he’s more widely known as a native of the nearby town of Delight where he attended school.
He brought national attention to the town by concluding episodes of his television program “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour,” which ran from 1969 to 1972 on CBS, by saying,“If you’re ever in Delight, Arkansas, come see me.” While he dropped out of school in tenth grade to pursue a music career and left Arkansas, relatives of Campbell still live in the area.
Campbell had a five-decade recording career, first as a session musician, then as a solo artist with a string of hit songs. He released 64 studio albums, selling over 45 million records worldwide. He won multiple Grammy Awards in the country and pop categories, along with other awards and honors. Campbell also acted in several movies, including the 1969 screen adaptation of “True Grit” in which he co-starred with John Wayne.
Glen Travis Campbell was born on April 22, 1936 to John Wesley Campbell and Carrie Dell Campbell. He was the seventh son of 12 children. His father was a sharecropper in Billstown and the family struggled financially while primarily growing cotton. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas notes that many of Glen Campbell’s relatives were musicians and that he developed an early interest in singing and playing. He received his first guitar at the age of 4, began performing in public by age 6, brought his guitar to school while in kindergarten and occasionally played on local radio stations.
He moved with his parents to Houston, Texas, then joined an uncle’s band in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he began performing in nightclubs. He eventually moved to Los Angeles in 1960 where, as people familiar with Campbell’s career know, his incredible guitar playing led to him being an in-demand studio musician backing a diverse group of world-renowned singers. As part of a loose collective of session musicians who became known as “The Wrecking Crew,” he played guitar on many of the biggest hits of the 1960s, ranging from Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night” to the Monkee’s “I’m a Believer.”
Campbell finally found success as a singer in 1967 with “Gentle on my Mind,” followed by the even bigger hits “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” and “Wichita Lineman.”
In the subsequent decades he had ups and downs in his personal life, became fodder for the tabloids, but always managed to reemerge to enthusiastic fans. He openly discussed his struggles with alcohol and cocaine, saying he gave up drinking and drugs in 1987. But in 2003 he had a relapse and spent 10 days in an Arizona jail after pleading guilty to charges of aggravated drunk driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
In 2011, Campbell disclosed he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, but rather than immediately pull back from public eye, he embarked on “The Goodbye Tour.” He performed around the world, including shows in Little Rock, Fayetteville, Forrest City and Jonesboro. A film crew followed him on that tour and captured the progression of his illness. The documentary “I’ll Be Me” was released in 2014 with the opening scene showing Campbell and his wife Kimberly watching old home movies, but he didn’t recognize himself.
Like his candor years earlier on drug and alcohol abuse, the film is credited with helping to reduce the stigma and shame of a condition that a sizable percentage of people will experience.
Glen Campbell died at a long-term care facility in Nashville, Tenn. on August 8, 2017 at the age of 81. He was laid to rest the following day during a private ceremony in Billstown, returning to the community where his life began.
Visiting Campbell’s grave
Last year I was listening to a podcast on the Beach Boys, which referenced Campbell’s work with the band and that he filled in for Brian Wilson on a tour for about four months after Wilson suffered a nervous breakdown in December 1964. Campbell, who had recorded on several Beach Boys songs, was quickly brought in to play bass guitar and sing high harmonies. It dawned on me that several times a month I drive relatively close to Billstown, but had never gone through.
On an early Sunday morning, Feb. 2, 2025, after dropping off my daughter in Texarkana, I put the cemetery address of 821 Billstown Road into my phone. It counted down the miles until I started passing tombstones and saw a wooden post with a hanging sign that said “Campbell’s Cemetery.”
I parked and first read a historical marker placed by the state which told the story of Campbell’s life. I then started walking among the many gravestones, most with Campbell as the surname, looking for Glen Campbell. I soon found the one for him and his wife Kimberly, who is still alive, and was looking at the little trinkets that I assume have been left by fans. Then I was a little startled to hear a recording of Campbell singing “Amazing Grace.” Looking around, I saw a speaker in a tree and realized it was likely triggered by a motion sensor. But it was perfect to hear on a solemn Sunday morning while paying my respects to someone whose music has deeply impacted my life.
A speaker in a tree that plays Campbell’s recording of “Amazing Grace” when activated by a motion sensor.
The sign for Campbell’s Cemetery at 821 Billston Road near Delight, Arkansas.
I shared this story with my friend Mark Keith, co-publisher of the Hope-Prescott News, owner of the Little River Journal and former owner of the Glenwood Herald, and he told me about his visit to the Campbell Cemetery. Being a musician himself and a radio veteran in the area, he said had previously gotten to know several of Glen Campbell’s relatives, including cousin Steve Campbell.
While driving through Billstown several years ago during the pandemic, he realized he hadn’t seen Campbell’s grave and decided to stop. While he knew about the motion sensor that starts “Amazing Grace,” he too was caught off guard when the song began playing. Then he noticed a long white Chevrolet truck was passing the cemetery.
“So it goes down the road and he stops and backs up. And I thought, oh good lord, I’ve upset the Billstown mafia. Well, Steve Campbell gets out, and I’ve known Steve for many, many years. He plays music, has a group, is a very good singer and a very nice guy,” Keith said.
They visited for a little bit, he said, while maintaining social distancing.
“So I was really tickled to see him and I thought that was a great little story to tell everybody about going to Billstown and running into a real live Campbell there.”
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
I’m excited to share audio of a newly digitized recording of legendary Little Rock R&B station KOKY-AM 1440 on Aug. 8, 1975. The 90-minute cassette, recorded off the air, captures a strong presentation by midday disc jockey Harrell Torrence. He was clearly very busy, talking between nearly every song and bringing together the many elements of the broadcast.
A recording of Little Rock’s KOKY-AM 1440 on Aug. 8, 1975.
The station was heavily promoting its summer “Stash the Cash” contest, which involved $250 being hidden somewhere in Little Rock. That’s the equivalent of about $1,500 today. Twelve clues hinting at where the money was located were being broadcast and printed on KOKY’s Soul Express Music Survey, which could be picked up at businesses throughout central Arkansas.
There are lots of great jingles between current and classic R&B hits. KOKY aired national newscasts from Mutual Black Network News, which was created in 1972 specifically for stations targeting Black audiences. The lead story in this recording was the death that day of jazz musician Julian “Cannonball” Adderley at age 46.
There’s also part of a local newscast, but the recording doesn’t include the anchor’s name. Side A of the cassette ran out midway through the newscast, and perhaps he gave his name at the end. I’ve prepared a full index of what’s in the recording, including quotes from the DJ patter, which you can read here.
AUDIO: Little Rock radio station KOKY-AM 1440 on Aug. 8, 1975, from 10:10 a.m. to 11:40 a.m. with DJ Harrell Torrence. The music has been edited to include only the beginnings and ends of songs to avoid potential copyright violations.
KOKY went on the air Oct. 8, 1956, initially calling itself “Greater Little Rock’s Ebony Station,” with studios at 1604 West 14th Street. The FCC had awarded a license that year to John M. McLendon, who also owned three radio stations in Mississippi. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas has adetailed history of the station, which was the first in the state to have a Black staff and programming aimed at a Black audience. Among KOKY’s early DJs was Central High School student Al Bell, who would later become co-owner of Stax Records in Memphis.
Nineteen years later, at the time of this recording, KOKY was calling itself “Soul Express Radio” and had moved eight blocks to 723 West 14th Street. After initially broadcasting with a 1,000-watt daytime-only signal, the station was approved within a few years for a power increase to 5,000 watts, which more effectively covered central Arkansas.
KOKY was sold several times over the years while retaining its format until 1979, when a new owner, Forus Communications of Arkansas, changed the programming to gospel and the call letters to KITA. The studios remained in the building on 14th Street for decades.
The skinny building that housed the studios of KOKY-AM 1440 in 1975 at 723 West 14th Street in Little Rock. The photo was taken June 7, 2025. The building now houses a music production studio. Photo: Michael Hibblen
The building is now home to Braceface Music Studio, according to its website, with a banner outside that says BFM Studio. A tall radio microwave tower secured with guy wires still stands behind the building. I assume it is used to relay programming for KLAL-FM, Alice 107.7, from Cumulus Media’s building in west Little Rock to the station’s broadcast tower at Wrightsville. The FM station, which went on the air in March 1992 and also had studios in the building, was originally known as Heaven 107-7.
An FCC database shows the AM 1440 signal in Little Rock is, as of this writing, off the air. With the decline of AM radio, many companies are abandoning their licensed frequencies.
The KOKY call letters later resurfaced for a time on AM 1250 before disappearing from the Little Rock radio dial again. They were revived in the late 1990s by corporate radio chain Citadel Broadcasting when it was planning to put an urban adult contemporary station on the air at FM 102.1.
The company’s director of programming, “Broadway” Joe Booker, told the Arkansas Times in a 2019 story that he felt the call letters “would be perfect” for the format. KOKY-FM 102.1 has consistently ranked near the top of Little Rock radio ratings. The station was launched on New Year’s Day 1998.
KOKY’s heritage and history were celebrated at a 2019 event organized by the Central Arkansas Library System’s John Miller, which included a panel discussion with many people who had been associated with the station.
Bob Gay died last December at age 87. Thank you to his son, Russell Gay, for giving these tapes to me.
Revised Sept. 15, 2026 to correct the spelling of disc jockey Harrell Torrence.
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
Nathan Willis films as Benjamin Victor works on his clay model of Daisy Bates. Photo: Arkansas PBS
On this state holiday honoring civil rights pioneer Daisy Gatson Bates, people can register for free tickets to a screening next month of an Arkansas PBS original documentary that tells the story of placing statues of Bates and singer-songwriter Johnny Cash in the U.S. Capitol. While working for Little Rock Public Radio’s KUAR in previous years, I reported on each step of the process — often alongside filmmaker Nathan Willis — and know people will enjoy watching the fascinating details of the legislative debate, selection of the sculptors, the physical work of making the statues, then getting the needed approvals to place them in the Capitol.
The screening will be Wednesday, March 19, 7 p.m. at Robinson Center in Little Rock. You can register for free tickets here. There will first be a panel discussion, followed by the documentary. It will make its broadcast premiere the following night, Thursday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m.
UPDATE: After the two nights of showings, the entire film can now be watched on the PBS app and YouTube. I’ve replaced the promo clip that was below with the full film. Enjoy!
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
Five years after the Arkansas General Assembly approved replacing the state’s two statues in the U.S. Capitol with civil rights leader Daisy Bates and Johnny Cash, the singer/songwriter’s statue is about to be unveiled. A ceremony is set for Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 11 a.m. in Washington.
A clay model of Kevin Kresse’s statue of Johnny Cash as it appeared on Oct. 20, 2022, while he was working on it in a studio at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Photo: Michael Hibblen
As I start this blog entry, it’s just before dawn on Sunday, Sept. 22, and I’m about to begin a two-day road trip to our nation’s Capitol. After five years of following every step in the process — and getting to know sculptor Kevin Kresse, who was selected to make the eight-foot tall bronze statue — I wouldn’t miss it.
The statue, secure inside a wooden crate, left Arkansas on Sept. 5 to begin its own journey in the back of a tractor-trailer. A send-off ceremony was held outside the Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock. Below is a video with highlights that I shot that morning.
On “Arkansas Week,” the program I oversee at Arkansas PBS, we previewed the Washington unveiling ceremony by talking with Kresse and the state’s Statuary Hall Steering Committee Chair Shane Broadway, who has overseen each step in the process, including selecting the artists for each project. We also included clips with daughter Rosanne Cash, who has raved about Kresse’s work in capturing her dad.
Then in the second segment, host Steve Barnes reflected on Bates, whose statue was unveiled earlier in the year, by talking with Janis Kearney. She had known Bates well and eventually became publisher of the Arkansas State Press, which had been run by Bates and her husband L.C. Bates. Mrs. Bates is best known for mentoring the nine Black students who desegregated Little Rock’s Central High School in 1957.
I’ll eventually write an update after the ceremony, while you can find links to my previous reports here. Below is a link from U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to watch the live ceremony. His office had to approve the statue design and other factors before it was finally cast in bronze.
Veteran reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas.
This is the online home of Michael Hibblen, managing editor of Newsroom Ventures, which publishes six Arkansas newspapers. I've worked as a reporter, editor and manager for newspapers, radio and TV stations for more than three decades, with this website telling the story of my career. Also featured are outside interests I've researched. The views expressed here are my own and might not reflect those of my employers.
Released by Arcadia Publishing in 2017, Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas delves into the history of the railroad, which once had a huge footprint in Arkansas. The book features historic photos and tells the story of the Rock Island, which was shut down in March 1980. READ MORE ABOUT MY BOOK.
Preserving Rock Island Depot at Perry
Since 2017, I've been part of a group working to preserve the former Rock Island Depot at Perry, Arkansas. To keep it from being demolished, we raised money to move the depot to an adjacent lot, still alongside the tracks, which is now owned by the city. The building has since been listed on the National Register of Historic Places and our group has become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. LEARN MORE.
For 13 years, from May 2009 to December 2022, I worked for NPR station KUAR-FM 89.1 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. That included 10 years as News Director while continuing to anchor and report. You can read and hear reports from that time on Little Rock Public Radio's website.
