Part of the Class of 1993’s gift to UT was a bust of Alex Haley, sculpted by Jim Gray. The class also established a library endowment. The sculpture was installed in the John C. Hodges Library.
The bust includes a surrounding element composed of three characters from Roots—Kunta Kinte, Chicken George, and Queen. David Kao, chairman of the Senior Gift Steering Committee; Julius Haley, Alex Haley’s brother; Chancellor Emeritus Jack Reese; Anthony Hancock, Black Alumni Associates Executive Board member; and John Rice Erwin, director of the Museum of Appalachia spoke at the unveiling.
Jim Gray moved from Alabama to Knoxville in 1966. He has produced a body of work ranging from marine paintings to paintings of Great Smoky Mountain scenes. He has created sculptures as diverse as commemorative medallions and larger-than-life bronze sculptures of Alex Haley, US President Andrew Johnson, and Dolly Parton. A 1968 article in National Geographic on the Great Smoky Mountains National Park included mention of Gray, which led to national coverage in other magazines such as American Artist and Southern Living, as well as raising the public’s awareness of the park. In the early 1970s, Carl Sagan was put in charge of NASA’s project of recording the sights and sound of earth. Two gold-coated recording disks were affixed to the sides of space probes Voyager I and II, and launched. Each disk contains 118 photographs of earth, civilization, and people. One of the photographs featured in the National Geographic article, which showed Gray painting in his home/studio, was selected to be included on these records of earth. Gray is a member of America’s oldest professional art group, the Salmagundi Club, and is also a member of the Association of Marine Artists, of which he served as vice president for eight years.