Sculpture: bronze; Base and plaza: concrete, stone and copper ore boulders
Type:
Sculptures-Outdoor Sculpture
Sculptures
Owner/Location:
Administered by Rex Allen Museum 150 North Railroad Avenue Willcox Arizona 85643
Located Railroad Park Intersection of Railroad & Maley streets Willcox Arizona
Date:
1991. Dedicated July 4, 1991
Notes:
Save Outdoor Sculpture, Arizona survey, 1994.
Image on file.
(On concrete pad west of sculpture:) Buck McCain signed
(Plaque to east of sculpture of Allen:) BORN DECEMBER 31, 1920 TO/HORACE AND FAYE ALLEN IN WILLCOX,/REX ELIVIE ALLEN WAS CROSS-EYED AT BIRTH./AS A YOUNG BOY, REX SANG IN THE BARBER SHOP/ON THIS VERY STREET. HE AND HIS DAD PLAYED/FOR DANCES AND RODEOS IN THE 30'S AND HE/EXCELLED IN GLEE CLUBS AND CHURCH CHOIRS./REX LEFT HOME DETERMINED TO FIND HIS PLACE IN/THE CAREER HE LOVED-MUSIC. IN 1945 AT/WLS RADIO IN CHICAGO, HE GAINED NATIONWIDE/POPULARITY ON THE NATIONAL BARN DANCE./IN 1946 HE MARRIED BONNIE LINDER,/THE MOTHER OF HIS CHILDREN:/REX JR., CURTIS, MARK, AND BONITA ALLEN./THROUGH THE GOLDEN AGE OF RADIO,/REX ALLEN STARRED WITH THE GREATS:/RED FOLEY, LULU BELLE AND SCOTTY,/AND GEORGE GOBEL.
(Plaque to west of sculpture:) REX ALLEN'S RECORDING CAREER WAS LAUNCHED WITH/MERCURY RECORDS IN 1946 AND SPANNED 30 YEARS./THE SONG THAT BECAME HIS TRADEMARK,/"STREETS OF LAREDO," SOLD OVER 3 MILLION COPIES./IN 1949 REX SIGNED WITH REPUBLIC PICTURES IN HOLLYWOOD, THE MOTION PICTURE STUDIO/RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CAREERS OF JOHN WAYNE,/GENE AUTREY, AND ROY ROGERS. STARRING IN 19/ACTION-PACKED WESTERNS WITH "KO-KO" THROUGH 1954,/REX WAS THE LAST OF THE "SILVER SCREEN COWBOYS."/IN THE TELEVISION YEARS OF 1955-1956, REX STARRED IN/39 EPISODES OF "FRONTIER DOCTOR."/DURING THE NEXT THREE DECADES, REX AND KOKO/APPEARED AT EVERY MAJOR RODEO IN THE U.S. AND/CANADA. HIS GOLDEN VOICE HAS BEEN HEARD ON/HUNDREDS OF COMMERCIALS OVER THE YEARS, AND/HE NARRATED MORE THAN 100 NATURE FILMS/FOR WALT DISNEY.
(Inset plaque on boulder on plaza:) 1940 "KO KO" 1967/REX ALLEN'S STALLION/CO-STAR IN 30 MOTION PICTURES/TRAVELED OVER HALF MILLION MILES/WITH REX IN U.S. AND CANADA./BILLED AS "THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HORSE IN THE WORLD." AT REST/HERE, "BELLY HIGH" IN THE GREEN/GRASS OF HORSE HEAVEN.
(Plaque inset into plaza, at opposite end from figure:) REX ALLEN/BUCK MCCAIN, ARTIST/DESERT CRUCIBLE, INC., FOUNDRY/JULY 4, 1991/THIS PROJECT WAS MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH/THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF:/THE CITY OF WILLCOX/SULPHUR SPRINGS VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY/THE REX ALLEN COWBOY MUSEUM,/MEMBERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS/MARY LEIGHTON/JOHNNY HIDALGO/WILLCOX ROCK AND SAND, INC./PHELPS DODGE MORENCI, INC.
(Plaque inset in boulder directly in front of Allen:) "I'M PROUD TO SAY I WAS THE/LAST OF THE SILVER SCREEN COWBOYS! WHAT AN ERA IN FILM/HISTORY! IT WAS PART OF TWO/GENERATIONS OF KIDS GROWING UP/IN AMERICA. I LIKE TO FEEL THAT/IT HAD A POSITIVE AND MORAL/INFLUENCE ON THEM." (signature in script:) Rex Allen
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.
Summary:
A plaza setting, with at one end, a full-length portrait of singer Rex Allen reclining against a boulder backdrop. The young Rex Allen is seen dressed in cowboy garb - boots, jeans, western shirt with bandanna around neck, and cowboy hat. He also wears a horseshoe ring on his proper left pinky finger. He is holding a guitar, which rests on his bent proper right knee. The pink-stained concrete plaza is imprinted with numerous Arizona cattle brands and Rex Allen's signature. Five bronze plaques inset in plaza or on boulders give details of Allen's career and commemorate his stallion Ko Ko.
