A Fayetteville artist is putting the finishing touches on what is believed to be the state's largest hog sculpture.
On Sunday, Hogeye Inc. will install the 25-foot statue outside its office on U.S. 62 between Fayetteville and Farmington, Hogeye spokeswoman Terri Mallioux said. Once established on a concrete base, the sculpture will stand 30 feet tall, which is taller than the statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial and about the same height as the Martin Luther King Jr. statue in Washington, D.C., according to the National Park Service.
“I was originally looking to get a new sign for our business and decided it would be neat to have a unique artistic landmark instead,” Hogeye founder and co-owner Cliff Slinkard said in a statement. “Hogeye Inc. has been a part of this community for 36 years, and we want to give something back to this area. This is a fun way to do that.”
Slinkard commissioned Fayetteville artist Eugene Sargent to sculpt the statue, which is a replica of the original Hogeye Inc. logo designed in 1982, Mallioux said. Co-founder Niki Slinkard called the project priceless and said she didn't know its exact price.
"We were so into it we just stopped keeping up with the costs," she said.
The copper hog is appropriately named Hogeye but has been nicknamed the "dancing boar" because, once in place, it will stand vertically on its back legs with its hooves in the air.
Installation of the 3,500-pound boar will take place about a year after Sargent began working on the project and is expected to take about 20 minutes. The artist will then need another week to install light fixtures and apply a bronze protective coating before the sculpture is complete.
It will be placed on a grassy area on the north side of the road, making it an ideal place for customers and visitors to take photos, Mallioux said.
“This is an art-loving community, and we hope people will put the sculpture on their list of things to see in Northwest Arkansas,” Niki Slinkard said. “It definitely has a ‘wow’ factor.”