Internationally-renowned Sculptor Zenos Frudakis and The Committee to Honor Clarence Darrow Announce Darrow Statue Initiative in Honor of Darwin Day, Feb. 12.
PHILADELPHIA -- Feb. 11, 2016 -- An artist-led initiative by internationally-renowned, Philadelphia-based sculptor Zenos Frudakis is now underway to create and erect a sculpture of famed defense attorney Clarence Darrow on the grounds of the Rhea County Courthouse in Dayton, Tenn., the site of the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial. The 7-foot high statue of Darrow on a 3-foot high base, officially approved by the Rhea County Executive’s Office, will be a companion piece to the existing statue of lawyer and three-time presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan that has stood in front of the famous courthouse since 2005.
The Clarence Darrow Project is being announced in honor of Darwin Day on Feb. 12. It was Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution that was at the center of the landmark Scopes Trial.
In 1925, teacher John Thomas Scopes was indicted for teaching Darwin’s Theory of Evolution under a law enacted by the Tennessee legislature called the Butler Bill. It was the first law in the United States to specifically prohibit the teaching of the theory of evolution in schools, and the trial that ensued sparked a huge national debate over religious freedom and the separation of church and state. Clarence Darrow was retained by the ACLU to act as Scope’s defense attorney, while William Jennings Bryan argued for the state. The Butler Bill law was not repealed until 1967.
“My sculpture of Clarence Darrow,” says Zenos Frudakis, “along with the statue of Williams Jennings Bryan that already exists at the Courthouse, will recreate the historical court drama which captured the attention of a nation.”
The Artist-led Initiative
The initiative to create a sculpture of Clarence Darrow for the Rhea County Courthouse is being led by sculptor Zenos Frudakis and Rosalie Frudakis, President of Frudakis Studio, Inc. For 40 years, Frudakis Studio has received commissions to create public works of this kind, honoring prominent cultural and historical figures. This is the first effort by the studio to initiate a public art project and seek funding for the work. They are doing so with the direct support of The Committee to Honor Clarence Darrow, formed in July 2015 to help promote the statue and conduct fundraising for its creation.
Inaugural committee members include Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association (AHA), which from the onset expressed interest in helping support this project by receiving donations on the internet; Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-founder and co-president, and Dan Barker, co-president of The Freedom from Religion Foundation; Margaret Downey, president of The Freethought Society; William Dusenberry, a Tulsa, Oklahoma educator and the vice president of the Oklahoma Chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, who conceived the idea for a statue of Clarence Darrow, and who initially approached AHA after seeing a sculpture entitled “Knowledge is Power” by Zenos Frudakis in the association’s magazine The Humanist; and Steve Cass, vice president of Frudakis Studio, Inc., and Clarence Darrow Project coordinator.
Tom Davis, president of the Rhea County Historical and Genealogical Society, reviewed Frudakis Studio’s original proposal to create the sculpture. Frudakis Studio then submitted the sculpture proposal to the Rhea County Executive’s Office, where it was approved with the stipulations that the Darrow statue be the same height as the Bryan statue at about 9 feet, and that Rhea County would provide no funding for the project.
Currently the Committee to Honor Clarence Darrow is soliciting funds to begin the sculpture and run the project campaign. Donations are being accepted by the non-profit AHA through a secure webpage – http://americanhumanist.org/darrow. Later in 2016, the committee is looking to conduct a public crowdfunding campaign to raise the majority of the funding necessary.
For more information about the Clarence Darrow Project, contact Steve Cass at 610-431-1534, or by e-mail at steve@zenosfrudakis.com.
About Zenos Frudakis
Philadelphia-based sculptor Zenos Frudakis has been a professional working sculptor for nearly four decades. In that time he has created over 100 monumental works in public and private collections throughout the US and abroad. An alumnus of Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master in Fine Art from the University of Pennsylvania. Zenos' emphasis has been the figure and the portrait, as demonstrated in his many monumental figure/portrait works, individual portrait busts and bas-reliefs. He excels at expressing the character and vitality of his subjects while capturing an accurate likeness. Zenos portfolio includes figure sculpture, animals, bas-reliefs, portraits -- both busts and paintings -of living and historical individuals, and poetic/philosophical sculpture with a post-modern sensibility.www.zenosfrudakis.com