Young artist generates new ideas for veterans memorial expansion

Plans for Choctaw’s Veterans Memorial now call for four large, bronze statues, but it may take time before the figures are added due to finances.

Dave Howe, chairman of the Veterans Memorial committee, said the private fundraising effort has started with Choctaw resident Bobbi Freeman spearheading the drive.

“This will not be done with any public money,” said Howe, an Air Force pilot who flew B-52s during the Vietnam war. “Each statue will cost $40,000, but this type of art puts us in a different realm. It will take us into the world of art, which opens new avenues for giving.”

The primary fund-raising focus will center on corporations that traditionally donate to arts programs and events, Choctaw City Manager Robert Floyd said.

Types of potential corporate donors include banks, energy companies and federal grants for the arts, Howe said.

Granite markers naming specific con-

tributors will be placed on the memorial’s north wall depending on the amount of money given.

Sculptor

The idea for the bronze statues originated with budding sculptor LaQuincey Reed, of Norman. Reed would drive through Choctaw to visit his parents, who once pastored a local church. On each trip, he looked at the veteran’s memorial and noticed something was missing. That’s when the statue idea hit him.

The four figures, he said, will represent virtues symbolic of justice, peace, national defense and liberty.

“It will be more traditional, classical art of the early 1900’s,” Reed said. “Each figure will be placed in an archway at the memorial.”

Reed sculpted 18-inch versions of the statues over a three-month period so committee members could visualize his idea.

The life-size figures will stand six-feet tall and be placed on a three-foot tall pedestal. Plaques bearing the names of major contributors will be placed on the pedestals.

The statue that represents national defense will hold a spear and helmet, while the liberty figure will hold a torch and bell, similar to the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island.

The figure that represents justice will be armed with a sword and scales,while the peace statue will possess a cornucopia with a staff.

Reed, who assisted on the Land Run Memorial in Bricktown, said each statue will take about six months to sculpt and another eight months to a year for the foundry to cast.

Reed’s involvement with the veteran’s memorial didn’t happen by accident. His family has a long military history.

“My father was in the Air Force and my grandfather and uncle were in the Army,” he said. “I actually like memorials and visiting them.”

Reed graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis on sculpting.

“Quincey came along and made us think outside the box,” Floyd said. “We were wanting to enhance the project anyway, and then Quincey approached us.”

Vets memorial

The original veteran’s memorial project started in 2001 and was finished in its present form in 2007. Project funding came from brick sales, with each brick bearing the name of soldiers who served or are serving in the military. The service branch and war served also is placed on each brick. Bricks are $100 each, and 83 remain to be sold, Floyd said.

“It’s not just military personnel who can have their names on the wall,” Howe said. “Civil servants are included as well. We have four or five “Rosie the Riveters” out there and several Tinker Department of Defense workers.”

Names of men and women who fought in conflicts ranging from the Revolutionary War to Afghanistan and Iraq are listed at the memorial.

As an extension of the original project, Floyd said future plans call for the memorial’s south wall to be extended to the west, and for military displays such as decommissioned artillery vehicles and Navy anchors to be placed on the memorial property.

The memorial property extends from Bypass to NE 23rd, and from Clark Street to Choctaw Road.

“There’s a lot of room to put on military displays and add to the brick wall when the need arises,” Floyd said. “We want to create something that will drive interest when people can come by and linger for a bit.”

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