James Peniston

sculptor whose monumental works in bronze

National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., for which he helped design the stainless-steel armature that holds up the bronze eagles and wreaths under the Atlantic and Pacific arches.^[1]

acrylic sculpture by Reginald E. Beauchamp that was covered with 80,000 pennies collected from local schoolchildren, and which had deteriorated and been removed.^[4] Peniston won the commission with a proposal that echoed the spirit of the older work. Over two years, the sculptor visited two dozen Philadelphia elementary schools, where he talked about Franklin's activities as a community-builder. He also asked the students to bring in a spare key to be worked into the sculpture, and ultimately collected more than 1,000 keys. "The keys, worked into the statue's surface, are meant to represent the role of community organizers, donors and volunteers in making projects around the city possible," wrote one local newspaper.^[5] Even more students became involved through a penny drive mounted by the Philadelphia Fire Department, which collected some 1.8 million pennies in 500 local schools to help fund the casting. The firefighters also added their own touch to the sculpture: When the molten bronze was poured for the work, they cast in brass nameplates representing fallen colleagues from four centuries of service.^[6]

Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas.^[9] In preparation for sculpting, Peniston visited and photographed the horse with the permission of trainer Bob Baffert.^[10] The sculpture was cast in 2017 at Laran Bronze outside Philadelphia^[11] and installed on January 11, 2018, at the entrance to Oaklawn's newly renovated grandstand.^[12] "James Peniston's full-scale, full-stride statue of American Pharoah [is] a perfect duplicate — down to its bulging muscles and veins — of the 3-year-old colt as he carried himself and jockey Victor Espinoza in the winter and spring of 2015 toward Triple Crown glory," the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette wrote.^[13]