The Jimmy Carter statue is a

monumental statue A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Located on the grounds of the

Georgia State Capitol The Georgia State Capitol is an architecturally and historically significant building in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The building has been named a National Historic Landmark which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As t ...

, the statue was designed by Frederick Hart and depicts

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

, former

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

. It was dedicated in 1994.

History

Georgia native

served as the 39th

from 1977 to 1981. This statue honoring him was unveiled on June 7, 1994. Frederick Hart served as the designer for the statue. In 1976, Hart had served as a volunteer on Carter's campaign during the

1976 United States presidential election The 1976 United States presidential election was the 48th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 1976. Democrat Jimmy Carter of Georgia defeated incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford from Michigan by a narrow ...

. Hart sculpted much of the statue from photographs of Carter, but he met with the former President at the

Carter Center The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter partnered with Emory University just after his defeat in the 1980 United States presidenti ...

in order to sculpt his head. The statue was the eighth monument erected on the grounds of the

, and initially there had been concerns that the area would be too "crowded" to accommodate the statue of Carter. The unveiling ceremony was attended by Carter, former

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Rosalynn Carter,

Georgia Governor The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either veto or approve bills passed by the Georgia Legisl ...

Zell Miller Zell Bryan Miller (February 24, 1932 – March 23, 2018) was an American author and politician from the state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as lieutenant governor from 1975 to 1991, 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as U.S ...

, and Jody Powell, Carter's White House Press Secretary. The total cost of the monument was approximately $400,000.

Design

The statue of Carter is made of

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

and rests on a

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

slab. Hart wished to portray Carter as an "everyman" and a "working man", and thus the statue depicts him in

khakis The color khaki (, ) is a light shade of tan with a slight yellowish tinge. Khaki has been used by many armies around the world for uniforms and equipment, particularly in arid or desert regions, where it provides camouflage relative to sandy ...

and with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up. Hart chose not to include a grin on Carter's face, as he thought it would look like a

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...

. Carter's arms are outstretched with open palms, and his belt buckle depicts a

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

on it. A granite slab serves as a backdrop for the statue, which is surrounded by an elliptical plaza that features four benches, also made of granite, that are each inscribed with phrases relating to Carter's life, such as "humanitarian", "peacemaker", and "teacher".

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Visual arts, Georgia (U.S. state), Politics 1994 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 1994 sculptures Bronze sculptures in Georgia (U.S. state)

Carter Carter(s), or Carter's, Tha Carter, or The Carter(s), may refer to: Geography United States * Carter, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Carter, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Carter, Montana, a census-designated place * Carter, ...

Monuments and memorials in Georgia (U.S. state) Outdoor sculptures in Georgia (U.S. state) Statues in Atlanta Jimmy Carter Statues of presidents of the United States

History

Design

See also

References

External links