State Legislatures Magazine: December 2001

Editor's Note: This article appeared in the December 2001 issue of NCSL's magazine, State Legislatures. To order copies or to subscribe, contact the marketing department at (303) 364-7700.

Finally, a Dome

Why No Dome?
Seminole Creates Proud Warrior
Artist's Reputation Grows
"The Earth and I Are One"

Senator Charles Ford Unites Art and Oklahoma History

Finally, a Dome

The Oklahoma State Capitol will soon have a dome, and a senator who has served there for 20 years is the artist creating the sculpture that will stand on the top.

By Malia K. Bennett
Oklahoma will soon lose its dubious distinction of being home to the only Capitol that is supposed to have a dome, but doesn't.

And Senator Enoch Kelly Haney will gain the distinction of being the only lawmaker in the country to create the work of art that will stand atop of his Capitol's brand new dome.

Like many other states, Oklahoma has a citizen legislature, with lawmakers returning to their chosen vocations when they aren't in session. Besides being the Senate Appropriations chairman, Haney is an artist and sculptor whose works have been shown nationally and internationally.

Now, more than 20 years after first being elected, his work as a lawmaker and as an artist has come full circle with the creation of a sculpture that will crown the building where Haney has devoted a third of his life to public service.

WHY NO DOME?
Work began on the Capitol in Oklahoma City more than 80 years ago. The original neoclassical architectural plans called for a dome, but when the building was completed in 1917, there was no dome. For years people there have wondered why. Some theories are more colorful than others. There were stories that someone embezzled the funds or that the architect actually despised buildings with domes (in spite of the fact that the original blueprints called for one). One version is that the fledgling state ran out of money before the Capitol was finished. It's more likely that some of the funds were simply transferred to another project. That, too, is only conjecture, however, because no historical record exists to indicate exactly why the dome wasn't built.

The builders installed a circular stained glass piece in the central ceiling of the rotunda that gave the illusion of a dome from the inside. But from outside, the omission was obvious. Although seven state capitols across the nation are domeless, Oklahoma was the only one that was designed to have a dome, but didn't. While some citizens thought the missing dome de-tracted from the grandeur of the structure, others believed it looked just fine.

And so it stayed. In the late 1980s a group called The Capitol Domers tried to raise private funds to complete the dome. Although their initial enthusiasm was high, the group eventually ran out of steam long before enough money was raised. When Frank Keating was elected governor in 1994 he brought a renewed effort to raising money for the dome, a particular interest of his since he served in the Legislature some 25 years before.

Today most of the $21 million needed to complete the project has been raised. Construction is under way on a 157-foot dome that should be finished in time for an official dedication on Statehood Day, Nov. 16, 2002.

SEMINOLE CREATES PROUD WARRIOR
It will be an especially proud day for Senate Leader Enoch Kelly Haney. A full-blood Seminole Indian and master artist of the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma, Haney is creating the 17-foot statue of a young native warrior called "The Guardian" that will be installed on top of the dome.

"I don't remember a time when I wasn't creating," says Haney, who began exploring his artistic talents as a young child. But he credits his parents and some very special teachers along the way who tapped into his potential as an artist and used it as a way to help him succeed in school.

"Being raised in a bilingual home [his family spoke both Seminole and English], I sometimes had a hard time with written assignments, like book reports. Although, coming from a family of public speakers, I had no trouble with oral presentations," Haney says. "I had a wonderful teacher in the 10th grade, Miss Virginia Brown, who understood. Instead of having me do a written report, she asked me to do a drawing depicting key elements of the story.

"I was doing a report on 'The Ides of March' so I went to the library to study the architecture of the period, the clothing, the time and period, the topography," he continues, "and I wound up reading four or five books in order to do that assignment."

Meticulous research is still a part of Haney's creative process; he sometimes spends literally years doing background work for a particular piece. It also helped him strengthen his academic skills.

The young artist also knew that when he grew up, he wanted to help people.

"Both my father and my grandfather were ministers. For a long time, I thought I might become one, too, and I even did a minor in religion in college," recalls Haney, who graduated with a degree in fine arts after studying at both Bacone and Oklahoma City universities.

Haney eventually chose public service, successfully winning a seat in the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1980, where he focused on education. That continued to be one of his top legislative priorities after he was elected to the Senate in 1986.

ARTIST'S REPUTATION GROWS
But throughout his legislative career, his reputation as an artist continued to grow. Although many people who were familiar with his work knew Haney primarily as a painter, in recent years he began to concentrate on sculpture. When the search began for a statue to top the new dome for the Capitol, Haney went to work on a piece to submit.

All those involved with the project agreed that it would be fitting for the dome statue to depict a Native American. Home to 39 federally recognized tribes, Oklahoma's very name comes from the Choctaw language and means "Land of the Red Man." Like the architectural firm and the construction companies chosen, it was also decided the sculptor would be an Oklahoman.

Artists from around the state submitted their renditions of a statue for judging by the State Capitol Preservation Commission, a citizen committee appointed by the governor and legislative leaders. The pieces were identified by number only.

Betty Price, executive director of the Oklahoma Arts Council, whose agency directs the commissions of works of public art for the Capitol says there were specific features the panel sought. "The statue was to be of a Native American male, but not depicting a specific tribe or individual. The figure was to reflect strength, boldness and simplicity of design ... and it needed to be visually interesting from all directions," she explains.

And there was another request made by several state tribes. They wanted the statue to face east. Their request had religious significance since Native Americans say prayers facing the east, the direction of the rising sun. "However," says Price, "the panel had serious concerns with positioning of the sculpture toward the east, regarding it as a piece of the Capitol architecture and pointing out that Solomon Layton, the architect, showed the sculpture facing south in his original rendering of the Capitol dome." If it faced east, people approaching the front of the Capitol would see the sculpture only in profile.

One submission, entry number five, solved that problem. The feet are positioned toward the east, while the head of the figure faces south. "This design incorporated the respect for the Native American belief about facing east, and yet it also answered the challenge of the sculpture facing south," says Price.

In the end, the committee unanimously agreed this was the sculpture that best captured all the characteristics they were looking for. The artist they had chosen was Senator Enoch Kelly Haney.

The choice was not without some criticism. Some people believe that the selection of the Senate Appropriations chairman to create the statue was more than a coincidence. But it was a criticism Haney and others had anticipated. "You just have to expect that. Before I even began the process, I checked with the State Ethics Commission, who said as long as private funds were being used for the project it was fine," says Haney. But when he was selected to create the sculpture, Haney announced he would not accept the $50,000 artist's commission; "The Guardian" was to be his family's gift to the people of Oklahoma.

This is not the first work Haney donated to the Capitol, or the first time he has been asked to complete work that was in the original plans for the building. At the request of fellow Senator Charles Ford, who has been privately raising funds for original works of art for the Capitol, Haney created two roundels representing the tribes of Eastern Oklahoma for the entrance to the Senate chambers and two roundels representing the tribes of Western Oklahoma for either side of the House Chamber entrance. The bronze roundels were unveiled this past March.

Original Haney paintings and prints can also be found throughout the Capitol building, including one that became the source of a minor controversy. Haney's works often include depictions of Native American spirituality, including the sacred connection between man, his fellow creatures, the earth and the Creator.

"THE EARTH AND I ARE ONE"
That can be seen in Haney's painting "The Earth and I Are One." It was commissioned to help commemorate Earth Day. A few years ago, a House member demanded that the picture be removed. He complained that as a Christian, he was offended by the painting's depiction of "pantheism." Haney, who has been a Methodist lay minister for more than 30 years, wasn't too upset by the comment. He joked to an aide that he was sure there were "no panthers in that painting." The artwork remains on display in the Capitol.

Haney's paintings and sculpture continue to feature significant Native American imagery. "The Guardian," he says, not only pays tribute to the state's native heritage, but also embodies the values of all Oklahomans.

The Guardian" holds a lance in his hand, with the spear-end piercing his legging and planted firmly in the ground, a stance that Haney says is highly symbolic of the Oklahoma people.

"He is standing his ground. He refuses to be moved. He will continue to stand for those things he believes in such as family and other values Oklahomans hold dear. He stands strong in the face of adversity, as Oklahomans have. The people of this state have withstood so much: The Dust Bowl in the 1930s, and more recently the Oklahoma City bombing and the May 1999 tornadoes. Still, they maintain their dignity and determination. That is what Oklahoma is about," says Haney.

When Governor Keating saw the full-sized statue for the first time, he agreed that Haney had captured the right imagery.

"It represents the Native American culture of Oklahoma, but also represents Oklahoma: tough, independent, heroic and courageous," says Keating. "I think it's wonderful that someone of Kelly's artistic talent was chosen in a blind competition to design the statue. This will be absolutely a magnificent statement on top of our Capitol building, celebrating our Native American culture."

Although a young man of Choctaw descent posed for the sculpture, Haney has used his own children and grandchildren as models as he added details such as the eyes, nose, mouth and hands. Often visitors to the foundry where Haney was working on the statue would see his youngest son John, 12, and his grandson Enoch, 14, preparing pieces of clay. Other members of the family helped out as well, adding clay to the sculpture and documenting the work on film and video.

The clay figure will be used to create a mold from which the final bronze version of the statue will be cast. When complete, it is expected to weigh approximately 5,000 pounds.

The entire project has proceeded much more quickly than anyone had anticipated, and the bronze statue may be ready to install well ahead of the formal dome dedication ceremonies. Haney and others are confident the piece will be completed by June 2002, in time for the annual Red Earth Festival in Oklahoma City. Thousands of Native Americans from across the country come each year for competitions in dance and art, and it has become the largest native cultural celebration in the nation. Barring any unforeseen delays, Haney and others involved in the dome project are planning a dedication date during Red Earth.

State Senator Charles Ford Unites Art and Oklahoma History

The Senate lounge in the Oklahoma Capitol is used for numerous receptions throughout the year for visiting dignitaries. But Senator Charles Ford felt something was missing in the stately room.

"Our beautiful Senate lounge lacked artwork. I thought the $25 prints and the $85 frames weren't enough to decorate it, so I decided to find an artist and do a large oil painting about some historical event in my home district of Tulsa," says Ford.

Ford, who has been in the Oklahoma Legislature since 1966, decided to commission an oil painting based on a vignette from Washington Irving's book A Tour on the Prairies, depicting Irving's visit to Oklahoma in the 1830s.

The painting was dedicated in 1998. Soon Ford was approached by other members who also wanted to commission original artwork for the Senate. An art and antique collector in private life, Ford put together a nonprofit foundation. Soon the Oklahoma State Senate Preservation Fund Inc. was in full swing.

"It really began to snowball as more senators wanted to commission artwork about historic events in their districts," explains Ford. Soon additional works were created for other areas of the Capitol. In addition to senators, other prominent Oklahoma people and corporations have become involved, including Admiral William Crowe, who commissioned a painting of the attack of the battleship Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor.

To date, Senator Ford's organization has raised over $450,000 and commissioned 24 pieces of original art, including four bronzes, all created by Oklahoma artists. He expects to dedicate at least 10 more works in 2002.

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