TYLER, Texas (KLTV) – A sculptor whose work stands at Tyler Pounds Regional Airport and The Children’s Park of Tyler is preparing to start his largest project yet: a 305-foot Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast.
Gary Lee Price, who has been creating sculptures for 45 years, was asked to design the monument inspired by Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl’s belief that freedom must be paired with responsibility.
“America, you have your Statue of Liberty on the East Coast. We need to bookend the country with a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast,” Price said.
Price’s artistic vision was shaped by tragedy at age six when his parents were killed in a murder-suicide in 1961.
“A first grade teacher knew that I had some art talent. So instead of thinking of what I had witnessed just a couple of weeks earlier, I’m now focusing on my art. And that was a game changer in my entire life,” Price said.
The Statue of Responsibility will match the height of the Statue of Liberty at 305 feet tall. The building is shaped as one hand lifting another, symbolizing the responsibility to help others.
“My mantra is lifting the human spirit through sculpture. I believe that sculpture has a purpose, and I want to lift people,” Price said. “I think it’ll lift their spirits.”
The decade-long national project carries a message meant to reach future generations, rooted in the belief that with freedom comes responsibility.
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