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.
Crews using heavy equipment tear boxcars apart on May 26, 2024, one day after the Union Pacific freight train derailed near Emmet, Arkansas. All photos by Michael Hibblen
A Union Pacific freight train derailed near the southwest Arkansas town of Emmet on May 25, 2024, with the railroad reporting 51 cars were involved. The wreckage blocked the busy double-track main line between Little Rock and Texarkana, which is also used by Amtrak’s Texas Eagle, with two passenger trains scheduled each day between Chicago and San Antonio. No injuries were reported.
Reports obtained from the state said 10 of the rail cars involved were loaded with cases of bottled beer, which broke during the derailment and clean up, flowing to a nearby creek where hundreds of fish and other wildlife were killed. State and federal environmental and wildlife officials were soon at the site assessing the impact and efforts to mitigate the spillage. Dozens of autoracks carrying new Dodge pickup trucks were also involved, with the vehicles being heavily damaged or destroyed. No hazardous materials were involved.
The derailment occurred behind a Foster Farms feed mill along U.S. 67, with most of the wrecked rail cars in a wooded area that required temporary paths to be cleaned to access the cars. If the derailment had happened a mile or so up the tracks, it would have been in a residential neighborhood. I arrived the following morning as a major response was underway with trucks carrying heavy equipment like bulldozers lining both sides of the highway. Also brought in were pieces of prefabricated track loaded on trailers.
A worker walks in front of a pile of spilled boxes of Modello.
Talking with some of the workers who were employed by contractors or consultants for the railroad, I was told they had been laboring through the night and were exhausted. Crews would continue clearing wreckage until the tracks could be repaired and reopened. Workers used backhoes to break apart boxcars and move them off the tracks. In the process, especially when cars were being moved or lifted upright, I could see boxes of beer falling out and hear the sound of breaking glass. The contents were cases of Modelo and Corona wrapped in plastic on wooden pallets. A strong smell of beer was in the air.
Union Pacific spokeswoman Meg Siffring said in an email that “beer inside some of the boxcars was discharged into a creek and traveled downstream about a mile. Union Pacific’s Hazmat team is working to contain and remove the beer. The incident has been reported to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Dept. of Environmental Quality as some fish have perished. The cause of the derailment is under investigation.”
Reports from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality said because of recent rain and the soil being saturated, the beer was not absorbed into the ground, with an estimated 10,000 gallons of beer flowing downhill to a ditch that feeds into the Terre Rouge Creek. An inspector from the Office of Emergency Management followed the creek 0.8 miles from the initial derailment location, finding a log in the creek provided a natural barrier with water behind it being clear and no dead aquatic life being found.
Vacuum trucks were brought in to suck up the contaminated water, collecting about 6,000 gallons. Additional pumps would be added in the coming days to aerate the waterway, but state biologists said they continued finding more dead fish each day, totalling about 400 by May 29. They also discovered dead mussels, crayfish and turtles. Attorneys for Union Pacific requested the state keep any dead fish for legal reasons.
Word that beer was in many of the boxcars spread through the community, with the Hempstead County Sheriff’s Office posting to social media on May 30 that its deputies and Union Pacific Railroad Police “have been stationed at the site to deter any looting of the cargo.You will face trespassing and theft of property charges if you enter the feed mill lot or take anything from the site of the derailment.”
The sheriff’s office also said a recent Facebook post claiming there was “free beer” at the site was not true, and asked people to stay away as the railroad and contractors where “have heavy machinery and workers trying to clear the site and it is not a safe environment for anyone not involved in the cleanup.”
Crews worked in extreme heat for several days to remove the damaged rail cars and clear the tracks.
Workers methodically removed the pickup tracks from the auto racks and stacked them in neat piles.
A staging area was established for removing and stacking the damaged pickup trucks that were inside autoracks. All were new Dodge-brand models, likely coming from being assembled in Mexico. They were stacked in piles over a large area showing very dramatic damage like entire roofs being ripped off. The monetary loss of the vehicles was likely very high.
I’m not sure exactly when all the damaged rail cars were removed and the track repaired, allowing the resumption of trains. Weeks later, most of the damaged trucks were still alongside the right of way, showing what a long process a cleanup like this can be.
With tracks reopened, a train passes through the site of the derailment on June 16, 2024.
After more than a year of work, artist Kevin Kresse says he expects to finish a mural on the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Arkansas building in North Little Rock by the end of this weekend. He has been a familiar sight for drivers passing by on Main Street during late afternoon and evening hours once the sun sinks behind the large brick structure.
Kevin Kresse looks at his Boys and Girls Club mural in North Little Rock on Friday, June 15, 2024. All photos: Michael Hibblen
Kresse works alone, often hoisted in the air by a piece of heavy equipment while painting images and words of inspiration with a brush. The project began in May 2023, with breaks of a few months each when the weather got too hot last summer and too cold last winter.
“God knows how many hours I have in it though — I would be afraid to find out,” he said. “I like it, I’m proud of it. I played basketball here as a kid, grew up like seven blocks away. It feels good to leave something in the community I grew up in.”
Before Kresse began the project, the building alongside a bridge that crosses the Union Pacific rail yard was stark and bare. With the entrance and parking lot on the opposite side from Main Street, for those passing by on the busy thoroughfare, the building looked void of life. But now it features dramatic images of people in front of skies of clouds and stars.
On the east side of the building, two kids are shown sitting with books in their laps — one fully engrossed by what she’s reading, the other with his head back, eyes closed and a big smile. Between them, both emerge from a point in a swirl, flying through the air in capes with their fists outstretched. The boy is wearing a graduation cap and gown, while the girl is wearing scrubs and a stethoscope. Underneath them, while I was visiting with Kevin, he was another layer of color to the words “Knowledge IS POWER” with three exclamation points for emphasis.
Kevin Kresse adds another layer of paint to the words “Knowledge IS POWER!!!”
Part of the east side of the Boys and Girls Club building.
Separated by a Boys and Girls Club logo, a young woman is shown bouncing a volleyball that looks like the moon in a nighttime sky. On the north side of the building, a young woman is swimming, arms blurred in motion, hair spread out, with a look of bliss on her face. Below her is the Arkansas River along with the Broadway and Main Street bridges and just a hint of each city’s skylines along with the words “Dream BIG.”
Next to her on the most visible corner of the building, with the words “Be a Mentor,” is an image of Little Rock art dealer and collector Garbo Hearne of Hearne Fine Art, blowing what looks like glitter. “She was sweet enough to model for me,” Kresse said.
The goal for the mural is to convey the many activities that benefit kids inside, he says, while encouraging them to “basically dream bigger about everything. So take it and pump it up and make it a little bit more fun with magical realism.”
In addition to sports and a pool, homework tutoring and leadership training are also offered. The mural being painted coincides with the 54-year-old building undergoing repairs and upgrades.
The north side of the building features a likeness of Garbo Hearnes, along with a young woman swimming.
This is just the latest project for Kresse, who has adorned his hometown with many works of art. He painted a “Dogtown Proud” mural alongside Main Street in the Argenta District, which is a reference to the days when Little Rock reportedly would dump stray dogs in its neighboring city. He also has a Mother Earth sculpture and fountain with stone benches on 5th Street.
As part of Little Rock’s 7th Street mural under two railroad overpasses, he painted an amazing likeness of radio veteran and longtime KABF-FM 88.3 Program Director John Cain. And most notably, Kresse was selected by the state to make a statue of Johnny Cash that will represent Arkansas in the U.S. Capitol. An unveiling ceremony for that is expected to occur in September.
On the web since 2002, this is the online home of broadcasting news veteran Michael Hibblen. I've worked for newspapers, radio and TV stations around the country, with this website telling the story of my career, including audio, photos and videos. Also featured are various interests I've researched, primarily about radio and railroads. Today I'm Director of Public Affairs at Arkansas PBS, overseeing production of the program "Arkansas Week" and the streaming of events on the Arkansas Citizens Access Network.
My Book
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, as well as other states in the middle of the U.S. The book features historic photos and tells the story of the Rock Island, which was shut down in March 1980. READ 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.
