New statue of Barack Obama with Sasha unveiled in South Dakota – By Karu F. Daniels (New York Daily News) / July 22 2019
The love of Obama continues.
A new statue of former President Barack Obama alongside his youngest daughter Sasha was unveiled in South Dakota on July 15.
Located on the corner of Fourth and St. Joseph St., the sculpture is located in Rapid City and is part of the City of Presidents collection. It depicts the 44th president waving to the crowd and holding his daughter Sasha’s hand.
It’s the latest tribute for the POTUS who made history as the first African-American to be the leader of the free world.
Obama, who left his eight-year term in 2017, has been immortalized in an array of forms, from books and in film to collectible figurines and even fried chicken restaurants (in China).
In May, a 3.5 mile stretch of street in Los Angeles was renamed Obama Boulevard.
The new sculpture is the product of two years of work by sculptor James Van Nuys, who also created the figures of former presidents, Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson and Millard Fillmore.
According to CNN, members of a private group had planned to show only Obama standing and waving when they decided to brainstorm more ideas.
“One of us said, ‘This is boring. This is not going to have the wow factor,'” Dallerie Davis, the group’s co-founder, said. “A man waving is not a showstopper.”
The City of Presidents has become a tourist attraction in the western South Dakota, featuring 44 sculptures of U.S. presidents placed around the city.
The sculptures were privately funded and are placed in a “coherent structure” to “eliminate any sense of favoritism or political gain,” according to the city’s website.
A life-size bronze statue of President Barack Obama and his daughter Sasha was unveiled at the Elks Theater in Rapid City, S.D. (Adam Fondren/AP)
