A new chapter will begin for a familiar piece of outdoor art when the Kansas Wheat Statute, a fixture for High Plains Journal, is christened at its new location at 10 a.m. Aug. 3 near the Sitka Depot at Boot Hill Museum, Dodge City, Kansas.
The city of Dodge City has moved the iconic 32-foot-high fine art sculpture titled “Kansas Wheat Shock” that was on the lawn south of the former HPJ site, 1500 E. Wyatt Earp Blvd., for the past 40 years to its new home in historic downtown. When the company moved to its new office at 11142 Kliesen St., owner Nelson Spencer Jr. wanted to donate statue to the city in honor of HPJ’s legacy in Dodge City and the contribution of its past, current, and future current employees.
During the ceremony the Dodge City Area Chamber of Commerce will have a ribbon cutting.
Built in 1980, the statue was created as a project of Ted Carlson, the art director of HPJ, on behalf of the owners. Hoss Haley, a Dodge City native, was given a $5,000 commission to build the sculpture with an all-weather steel product.
Haley has previously said he was proud of the statue because it has stood the test of time. The Corten Steel, an alloy product of U.S. Steel, has maintained its structural integrity. The steel was made so that when the rust occurs it provided a layer of protection.
“That steel was pretty new to use then. In the late 1970s steel buildings were made with it,” Haley said. He remembers the hole being dug and enough concrete was poured into the base so the sculpture could withstand the Kansas weather—most notably the wind. The statue was erected in 1981 in front of the High Plains Journal’s earlier headquarters at 1500 E. Wyatt Earp Blvd.
The statue reflects what Kansas is all about, he said. Dodge City, because of its Hollywood connection with Gunsmoke, raises great awareness about cowboys, he says, but it is wheat that is a sustainable crop and a longtime staple of southwest Kansas landscape and economy.
