[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 28 (Tuesday, February 11, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H1021-H1022]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING LITTLETON ALSTON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Nebraska (Mr. Bacon) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BACON. Mr. Speaker, in honor of Black History Month, I rise to 
recognize Littleton Alston for his lifetime contributions in the fine 
art of sculpting, both as a renowned artist and as a professor.
  Littleton was born in Petersburg, Virginia, and grew up in northeast 
Washington, D.C., where he had his first encounter with great art and 
public sculpture. He still vividly remembers looking from his home down 
East Capitol Street and seeing the Capitol dome.
  His mother, who was divorced and raising five children on her own, 
acknowledged and recognized a unique gift that Littleton seemed to 
possess: drawing. Her devotion and his talent helped him land an 
opportunity to attend the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in 
Washington, D.C., where he graduated from high school.

[[Page H1022]]

  Awarded a scholarship to Virginia Commonwealth University in 
Richmond, he received his bachelor of fine arts degree in sculpture and 
went on to earn his master of fine arts from the Maryland Institute 
College of Art's Rinehart Graduate School of Sculpture in Baltimore.
  There, he was the recipient of the school's top honor, the Rinehart 
Award. In 1989, he was accepted to the artist residency program at the 
Bemis Center of Contemporary Arts in Omaha. A year later, he joined the 
faculty of Omaha's Creighton University, where he has attained the rank 
of full professor of sculpture.
  For the past 30 years, he has consistently given back to the 
community. Littleton served on the Omaha Public Art Commission for 9 
years, and he has volunteered often for local charities and community 
service groups. He is especially proud of his educational outreach, 
having often led classes and workshops at schools in low-income 
neighborhoods.
  In 2013, he was recognized by the city of Omaha for his artistic and 
civic contributions with a Community Excellence Award and by Governor 
Dave Heineman with the Community Development Excellence Award.
  Littleton says he chose the art of sculpting because he believes 
sculpture is the best vehicle through which he can best express the 
joys and sorrows of the human condition. He says that he has explored 
many mediums and conceptual approaches. As an artist, he tries to 
convey the beauty and power of the sculpted form.
  Littleton Alston has been commissioned to create a variety of 
sculptural projects, including monumental bronze figures such as: The 
Archangel Michael, Christ Among Children, Dr. Martin Luther King, 
Baseball Legend Bob Gibson, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and many others.
  His work has included international artist residencies. In 2019, 
Littleton was selected from applicants from across the country to 
create a larger-than-life-size bronze statue portraying Willa Cather, a 
sculpture that will be one of the two statues representing the great 
State of Nebraska in the U.S. Capitol.
  This achievement is a hallmark for our country and a homecoming for 
Littleton, who will become the first African American artist to create 
a work to be displayed in the Statuary Hall collection, a compelling 
achievement, 50 years in the making, for a young man who grew up in 
eyeshot of the Statue of Freedom.
  This wonderful addition to these hallowed Halls will be dedicated to 
his late mother, Gilbertha Otelia Alston, a fitting tribute to the 
person who helped cultivate his great talent at an early age.
  We are proud that Littleton; his wife, Anne; and his children, Sarah, 
Taylor, and Daniel, call Omaha, Nebraska, home.
  I salute and thank Littleton for his impression upon the community, 
which will be felt for years to come.

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