Memorial to the Builders of the Great State of Texas, (sculpture).

Memorial to the Builders of the Great State of Texas, (sculpture).

Villa, Hugo, 1883-1948, sculptor.

Southwell Art Bronze Company, founder.

E. Gargani & Sons, founder.

Memorial to the Builders of the Great State of Texas, (sculpture).

Relief plaque: bronze; Stele: granite; Base: concrete.

Sculpture: approx. 11 ft. 3 in. x 4 ft. 7 in. x 1 ft. 1 in.; Base: approx. 2 ft. 2 in. x 13 ft. 3 in. x 16 ft.

(Lower right corner of relief:) Hugo Villa 1938 (Upper part of relief:) E. Gargani F.Dry. N.Y.. (On lower part of dedication plaque:) Southwell Art Bronze Co. S.A. Tex. (Dedication plaque:) "THE EVOLUTION OF A GREAT STATE"/TO OUR FOREFATHERS, THOSE STALWART PIONEERS WHO/BLAZED A TRAIL THROUGH A WILDERNESS IN OX CARTS/AND COVERED WAGONS, TO TILL THE SOIL, DEVELOP OUR/GREAT CATTLE INDUSTRY AND OUR OIL AND MINERAL/RESOURCES; TO THE BUILDERS OF OUR GREAT CITIES, AND/TO THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT/OF THE ARTS, SCIENCES AND CULTURE OF TEXAS/THIS MONUMENT IS DEDICATED. (Plaque on the rear:) THIS MEMORIAL TO THE BUILDERS OF/THE GREAT STATE OF TEXAS/ERECTED A.D. 1938 BY/THE TEXAS HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD/AMONG THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF TEXAS/AND WITH GRATEFUL APPRECIATION OF THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS/THE FOLLOWING NAMES ARE HEREON INSCRIBED/(four columns of names) signed Founder's mark appears.

Granite stele with bronze relief plaque depicting scenes from the history of Texas, and below that an inscription plaque. Included in the relief are four oil wells, an airplane, the Texas state capitol building, and a cowboy lassoing a steer. Also shown is a frontier couple with ox-driven plow, and a pioneer man standing with rifle behind his seated wife nursing a baby, and a covered wagon. The relief's decorative border includes panels depicting in the upper left corner, a sailing ship; in the upper right corner, medical symbols; in the lower right corner a book; and in the lower left corner a wheel with wings. Also seen in the decorative border is a woman sowing seeds and a blacksmith, fruits, vegetables, nuts and plants. The stele is mounted on a concrete base, with five steps.

History -- United States -- Texas

Occupation -- Industry -- Oil

Occupation -- Other -- Pioneer

Occupation -- Farm -- Sowing

Occupation -- Craft -- Smithing

Occupation -- Other -- Cowboy

Animal -- Cattle

Architecture exterior -- Civic -- Texas State Capitol

Architecture exterior -- Civic -- Capitol

Architecture -- Vehicle -- Airplane

Architecture -- Machine -- Oil Rig

Object -- Other -- Wheel

Occupation -- Medicine

Outdoor Sculpture -- Texas -- Austin

Administered by City of Austin, Parks & Recreation Department, 200 South Lamar Boulevard, P. O. Box 1088, Austin, Texas 78767

Located West of Texas State Capitol grounds, on West 11th Street, between Lavaca & Colorado Streets, Austin, Texas

Dedicated to the pioneers, to those who built the cities of Texas and contributed to the advancement of the arts, sciences and culture of Texas. Erected by the Texas Historical and Biographical Record. IAS files contain related excerpts from Bette Redman Reichman's "Sculpture in Austin," Austin: University of Texas, 1989, pg. 8.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Texas, Austin survey, 1993.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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