Oil Worker Monument Dedication!
Friday, Oct 15th
Honoring those who supplied the energy to build a nation...
One of the signature events for the 2010 Oildorado celebration will be the dedication of the tallest bronze monument in California. The 30-foot tall tribute to the hardy men and women everywhere who toiled in oilfields over the past century will be formally christened at a ceremony on the first day (Friday, October 15) of the 10-day celebration. The ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. at the monument site where the town’s Rails to Trails bike and walking path crosses Sixth Street. It will be followed by the Civic Luncheon, which is always one of the most popular Oildorado events.
The monument was designed and is being built by renowned sculptor Benjamin Victor, who beat out several other top artists who vied for the job. Victor joined the likes of Michelangelo, Bernini, Daniel Chester French and Maya Lin by receiving his first large commission at the age of 23. Three years later he became the youngest artist ever to exhibit in National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol, which is nation’s foremost collection of figurative sculpture.
The monument is the culmination of a major effort by a committee of volunteers who took an idea from longtime Taft resident Vic Killingsworth and made it a reality through a fund-raising effort that exceeded $700,000. The committee set out to create a monument dedicated to all the men and women who have worked in the oilfields. The culmination of their effort is the nation’s first monument paying tribute to the accomplishments of those men and women.
The Oil Worker Monument dedication will take place on Friday, October 15, 2010 at 10:00 AM. The monument is located on the corner of 6th St & Supply Row.
More more information, contact Committee Chairman Vic Killingsworth at 661‐763‐2360.
