Sculptor Kelly Graham, best known for his life-size bronzes of horses, is in Dallas this weekend to unveil his most recent work – a statue of Professional Bull Riders legends Little Yellow Jacket and Adriano Moraes. The unveiling will take place during the PBR Dickies Invitational on Sunday, June 24 at the American Airlines Center, and will be televised on the Versus Sports Channel, formerly the Outdoor Life Network.
Defending PBR world champion Adriano Moraes, the first rider to earn three PBR world titles, tops the list of competitors for the event. Little Yellow Jacket, three times Bucking Bull of the Year, was retired in 2005, having been ridden just 14 times in 90 attempts.
The statue was commissioned by Professional Bull Riders, Inc. for their new headquarters in Pueblo, CO, which will be dedicated later this summer; PBR is also offering a limited edition table top model of the statue for $5,000.
Like a lot of kids who grew up on a ranch in West Texas, Graham rodeoed when he was young. But his stepbrother Bill Freeman, the National Cutting Horse Association’s formerall-time leading money earner, inspired him to try his hand at training cutting horses. Ten years later, Graham, who is now 49, followed his father Lex Graham’s path and turned to art.
Lex Graham, well known for his syndicated “Back Forty” cartoons, also occasionally sculpts and introduced his son to the medium. Kelly got his break in 1996, when he was awarded a contract to design the NCHA championship trophy. In 1998, he was commissioned to create a life-size bronze for his hometown of Weatherford, TX. Since then he’s created more than 20 other life-size works for horse owners like Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton; George and Sue Hearst; and Michael and Paula Gaughan, Las Vegas casino owners, who commissioned a wagon wheel chandelier with a life-size cowboy swinging from the rim to hang in her South Point Hotel and Casino.
“It has worked out really well for me to be able to tie my cutting in with my art,” said Graham, who lives with his wife Donna on a ranch in Weatherford and owns his own cutting horses. “I get to use both of the things that were bred into me – horses and art.”