Client: The Texas Rangers Baseball Team

Overview

The History of Texas is located at the Texas Rangers Baseball Park (Globe Life Park) in Arlington, Texas. Each relief is 24 feet long and four feet high. The relief, which surrounds the ball park, is the largest American relief sculpture of the XX Century.

Goals

Many states have a unique history dear to the imagination of citizens, Texas more than most; here those episodes unique to Texans seemed most appropriate upon a building of communal experience, more so than might delightful baubles and pretty, sculpted, graphic design, et cetera; here, the human context, the shared historical experience, the moment of a human accomplishment, humanely conceived seemed essential, and right, and fitting.

Process

David Schwarz, AIA was the architect; Michael Curtis the sculptor (David Newton and Jim Oxford assisted); Elliot Gantz made the cast (his crew in casting mis-assembled the one point perspective of "Bringing Cotton to Market", perhaps purposefully placing the slave in the center; the construction crew, for ease of installation, cut six inches off the ends of each relief panel.

Additional Information

The over 100 statues in relief, including a dozen plus portraits, assorted herds of cattle, horses and sheep, the many buildings, including the Alamo (faithful in exactness to individual stones), was sculpted in 11 weeks, which to accomplish the artist worked two 36 hour days for each five, 16 hour days. The full-scale cartoons were drawn in one week; the preparation drawings were created in seven weeks.