Christ of the Ozarks
Encyclopedia
Monument
A monument is a type of structure either explicitly created to commemorate a person or important event or which has become important to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, or simply as an example of historic architecture...
al sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
located near Eureka Springs
Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Eureka Springs is a city in Carroll County, Arkansas, United States. Along with Berryville, it is one of the two county seats for the county. It is located in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the town is 2,350...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, atop Magnetic Mountain. It was erected in 1966 as a "Sacred Project" by Gerald L. K. Smith
Gerald L. K. Smith
Gerald Lyman Kenneth Smith was an American clergyman and political organizer, who became a leader of the Share Our Wealth movement during the Great Depression and later the Christian Nationalist Crusade...
. He briefly led the Share Our Wealth
Share Our Wealth
Share Our Wealth was a movement begun during the Great Depression by Huey Long, a governor and later United States Senator from Louisiana.-Major provisions of "Share Our Wealth":The key planks of the Share Our Wealth platform included:...
movement initiated by Huey P. Long during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
.
Background
During the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, Smith served as an organizer for Huey P. Long's Share Our Wealth
Share Our Wealth
Share Our Wealth was a movement begun during the Great Depression by Huey Long, a governor and later United States Senator from Louisiana.-Major provisions of "Share Our Wealth":The key planks of the Share Our Wealth platform included:...
movement and led it briefly following Long's assassination in 1935. After many years of political activism, Gerald L. K. Smith
Gerald L. K. Smith
Gerald Lyman Kenneth Smith was an American clergyman and political organizer, who became a leader of the Share Our Wealth movement during the Great Depression and later the Christian Nationalist Crusade...
retired to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, where he bought and renovated an old mansion. On other parts of the estate property, he planned a religious theme park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
, which he called "Sacred Projects". Although he never completed his plan, he commissioned the centerpiece, a gigantic statue of Jesus, completed in 1966. It is called "Christ of the Ozarks".
He also completed a 4,100-seat amphitheater. This is the site of seasonal annual outdoor performances of "The Great Passion Play", styled after that of Oberammergau
Oberammergau
Oberammergau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. The town is famous for its production of a Passion Play, its woodcarvers, and the NATO School.-Passion Play:...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is performed four or five nights a week from the end of April through the end of October.
Design
The statue, which is more than 67 feet (20 meters) tall, was primarily the work of Emmet SullivanEmmet Sullivan
Emmet Sullivan, was an American sculptor. He was born in Powder River, Montana, and worked on Mount Rushmore, and later created the five dinosaurs in Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, South Dakota in 1934, his first large scale project...
, who also worked on nearby Dinosaur World
Dinosaur World (Arkansas)
Dinosaur World, earlier known as John Agar's Land of Kong, was a tourist attraction in Beaver, Arkansas. It was a theme park covering , which contained a hundred life-size sculptures of dinosaurs, cavemen, and other prehistoric creatures. The park closed in 2005...
. He had assisted in the work at Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States...
. The statue is modernistic and minimalistic
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
; there is little facial detail or expression, and the lines and forms are generally simplified. The arms are outstretched straight, suggesting the Crucifixion
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
; however the cross is not overtly depicted.
Criticism
An art critic said it was similar to "a milk carton with a tennis ball stuffed on its top", and locals and Arkansans sometimes refer to it as "Our Milk Carton With Arms".In popular culture
The Christ of the Ozarks is featured briefly in the 2005 movie ElizabethtownElizabethtown (film)
Elizabethtown is a 2005 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Cameron Crowe starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst. Alec Baldwin has a small role as a CEO of an athletic shoe company and Susan Sarandon appears as a grieving widow...
and in the 1988 movie Pass the Ammo
Pass the Ammo
Pass the Ammo is a 1988 film starring Bill Paxton, Annie Potts, and Tim Curry. The film is a spoof of televangelism released right after the real-life Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart scandals. The movie's working title during production, "...And Pass the Ammunition," references the phrase "praise...
.
External links
- "Christ of the Ozarks", The Great Passion Play Website
- Sacred Projects: Christ of the Ozarks