Getting ready for 'The American'

The artist behind "The American" statue says he's ready for a planned groundbreaking next month. <br/><br/>But he says there's still has lot of work to do before the statue takes shape. Artist

Thursday, June 17th 2004, 5:48 am

By: News On 6

The artist behind "The American" statue says he's ready for a planned groundbreaking next month.

But he says there's still has lot of work to do before the statue takes shape. Artist Shan Gray picked a peak in Tulsa for the statue that will tower 21 stories over the landscape of the Botanical Garden. It's only a 4 foot model now. But soon work starts on a 20 foot sculpture that will be the final model of the project.

Shan Gray: "The 20 foot model, that's where all the details are ironed out, at that scale you can see any mistakes that's there and correct it so the big one such should be flawless."

The statue is privately funded by supporters of Gray, and the planned completion date is late 2007.