Portrait Sculpture - Mrs. Thomas Hart Benton V
- Portrait Sculpture- Mrs. Thomas Hart Benton V
Barbara Benton, an Oklahoma native, served as Most Worthy Grand Matron of the Order of the Eastern Star from 2006-2009. In this capacity, she visited 16 countries, 10 Canadian Provinces, all 50 United States and 2 U.S. Possessions. A portrait bust was commissioned to commemorate her years of service to the organization. The bronze resides at their International Headquarters in the Embassy Row section of Washington, D.C. 
Barbara was sculpted with an expression to subtly reveal the wisdom, kindness and fun that are her well-known traits. The eagle feather is a sacred symbol to her Native American tribe, the Choctaw, so it was incorporated as a hair clip. The earrings echo the shape of her shoulders.
Mrs. Thomas Hart Benton V
Left lateral view of the sculpture.
Barbara from the left.
Barbara spent years as a professional dance instructor and is known for her rendition of the Lord's Prayer in Native American sign language. For this reason, sculpted bas relief panels were created to depict four of the poses from the prayer as presented by Barbara. These panels have been placed around the base of the sculpture to reveal even more of Barbara's character. This one represents "forever and ever" and symbolizes shooting an arrow into the sky.
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