{"id":23895,"date":"2023-04-14T08:50:11","date_gmt":"2023-04-14T13:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/?p=23895"},"modified":"2023-04-20T11:22:20","modified_gmt":"2023-04-20T16:22:20","slug":"from-clay-to-bronze-sculptor-shares-how-baylors-new-gilbert-walker-statues-came-to-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/2023\/04\/from-clay-to-bronze-sculptor-shares-how-baylors-new-gilbert-walker-statues-came-to-life\/","title":{"rendered":"From clay to bronze, sculptor shares how Baylor’s new Gilbert\/Walker statues came to life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Clay<\/p>\n

In July 2021, Baylor announced it was seeking an artist to create statues<\/a> of Rev. Robert Gilbert (BA ’67) and Barbara Walker (BA ’67), the university’s first Black graduates, honoring the pair<\/a> for what they endured to open doors for countless other students who would follow in their footsteps.<\/p>\n

Less than two years later, Baylor unveiled and dedicated those statues<\/a> just outside Tidwell Bible Building, where Gilbert and Walker took classes in their majors. They’re the handiwork of sculptor Benjamin Victor<\/a>, an accomplished artist — the only living artist with three works in the U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall (and with a fourth coming later this year).<\/p>\n

Victor worked with the families to decide every detail in the statues: the poses, what they’re wearing, the looks on their faces, the quotes on the pedestals, and more. Baylor junior George Schroeder spoke with Victor to share the statues’ story<\/a>, from conception to unveiling:<\/p>\n