D-Day memorial sculptor to display 3 statues at Dole Institute dedication

LAWRENCE -- Three sculptures by a nationally renowned Lawrence artist and University of Kansas alumnus will be on display July 20 through 22 during the dedication celebration for the new Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at KU.

Jim Brothers, who was a teaching assistant and graduate student in fine arts at KU from 1969 to 1970, will display three miniature replicas of some of his best-known sculptures inside the new Dole Institute during the dedication.

Brothers perhaps is best known for his portrayals of soldiers on the beaches of Normandy, France, at the national D-Day memorial in Bedford, Va. On June 4, Brothers' sculpture of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower was dedicated in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Brothers was chief sculptor on the D-Day memorial, which was dedicated by President George W. Bush in 2001 on the 57th anniversary of the invasion.

The artist also has sculpted Mark Twain for the Hartford, Conn., public library; Omar Bradley for the five-star general's hometown of Moberly, Mo.; and pieces now installed in Kansas City, Mo., Los Angeles and Seville, Spain.

The sculptures to be displayed during the Dole Institute dedication are models of the Eisenhower and Bradley statues and a replica of "Across the Beach," which is one of eight pieces Brothers created for the Bedford memorial.

Brothers will attend ceremonies during the dedication weekend along with numerous dignitaries, including former Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, author of "The Greatest Generation."

The three-day dedication program will include a World War II air parade, military vehicle display and fashion show; a re-created USO-style performance; an evening of dancing to the Glenn Miller Orchestra; and an outdoor band concert as well as the formal dedication.