Art Professor Chosen to Create a Monument to the First Black Student at the University of Arkansas

Bryan Winfred Massey Sr., a professor of art at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, has been selected to create a monument on the campus of the University of Arkansas to honor Silas Hunt, the first black student to enroll at the university. Hunt, a graduate of what is now the historically black University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, enrolled at the University of Arkansas law school in 1948. He died from tuberculosis a year later without completing his degree. The law school awarded Hunt a posthumous honorary degree in 2008.

Massey will create a nine-foot abstract sculpture made of steel, bronze, and limestone to honor Hunt. The sculpture, funded through private donations, is expected to be completed this coming fall.

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