Gateway Park Monuments

Fort Smith, Arkansas was a pivotal location in the history of the Wild West.  In 2018, while developing a plan for the gateway to downtown Fort Smith, 64.6 Downtown, the non-profit group spearheading the downtown area renaissance, hired us to create a monumental sculpture to serve as the centerpiece to the new Gateway Park. The park replaced a vacant service station on a triangle of land that marked the entrance to downtown.  We worked with the committee to develop the park plan and eventually decided on three monumental statues representing figures from the areas of early civic life that had the largest impact on the positive development of the town: Schools, Healthcare, and Law and Order.  The statue of Sister Mary Farrell represents the work the Sisters of Mercy did in and around Fort Smith to bring health care to citizens.  The Statue of John Carnall represents schooling, as Carnall was the driving force in the founding of the public school district in Fort Smith.  Judge Isaac Parker represents the essential force of law and order in the town’s transformation from lawless, corrupt frontier town to a thriving modern city.  It was such an honor to be part of a project that so positively changed the aesthetics of the gateway to downtown Fort Smith.