New statue dedicated at Bailey Building

Fort Worth, TX

5/13/2008

It's 96 inches tall, weighs more than 1,200 pounds and depicts a blissful little girl on tiptoes atop a globe. It's the College of Education's new bronze statue, dedicated recently as a permanent symbol of the cause of education. Fittingly, it's called "Teaching to change the world."

The work, sculpted over eight months by Dallas artist Angela Mia de la Vega, is mounted on a stone platform on the southeast side of the Bailey Building and is meant to inspire future education students.

"This beautiful statue represents what we accomplish in the College of Education," said Sam Deitz, dean of the college. "Our task is to empower – to make teachers and children more able to succeed in a complicated and intertwined world. All education students and alumni will visit the statue, and it will make them smile and understand the heights they can reach."

Funded and donated by the Malcolm and Ann Louden family, the work is dedicated to Malcolm's late parents, H. Malcolm and Olive Gooding Louden, who passed away in 2006 and 2005 respectively.

A plaque at the base of the statue describes the senior Loudens as parents and grandparents "who instilled in their children and grandchildren a love of learning, service to others and gratitude for family." The couple met in the seventh grade in Ohio, and until their deaths some 80 years later, were nearly inseparable. Both attended Ohio State University in the 1930s before moving to Texas in 1941. Mac, as he was known, served as Mayor of Waco and sat on the Waco City Council. The city's Little League Complex is named in his honor. Olive was a community and church leader.

"I think the statue represents their spirit and courage," said Malcolm Louden '67. "They had great hope for their children and grandchildren and encouraged a dedication to learning." The work took artist de la Vega five months to sculpt in clay and another three months to complete the founding process. It is 100 percent bronze with stainless steel supporting the interior of the globe.

"It was a joy for me to work on this piece and to do it for the cause of education," said de la Vega, a mother of three children. "I hope people who see it, especially students, will be reminded that society is empowered through education. And it's fun. The little girl, who I called 'Joyful,' embodies the pure joy of a young person rejoicing on top of the world."