New sculpture celebrates unity in Columbia youth sports

COLUMBIA, Miss. (WDAM) - A new sculpture in Columbia celebrated unity in youth sports.

A two-piece, bronze sculpture at the Columbia Sportsplex was sculpted by renowned Columbia artist Ben Watts.

The sculpture, unveiled during a ceremony Thursday night, depicts three people in sports clothing, walking together while waving and smiling.

Two of the people are white. A third is African-American.

Watts was inspired to create it after Columbia merged two, historically-segregated sports organizations into one unified league for the entire city.

“I don’t think you can’t look at it without going, ‘Wow, somebody here is happy and it’s a great place to be,’” Watts said.

“It’s very welcoming.”

City leaders said more pieces of art celebrating local sports legends will be placed at the Sportsplex in the coming months.

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