Iowa Panel Chooses SD Artist For Borlaug Statue

Gov. Terry Branstad says a South Dakota artist has been chosen to create a statue of Norman Borlaug that will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol.

Branstad announced Tuesday that a committee created by the Iowa Legislature had chosen Benjamin Victor of Aberdeen for the sculpture.

Each state can display two sculptures in the Capitol. The Borlaug statue will replace one of former senator and Interior Department secretary James Harlan.

The Harlan statue will return to Iowa.

Borlaug, a Cresco native, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his role in combating world hunger. He died in 2009 at age 95.

The statue committee is raising money for the sculpture, set to be installed at the Capitol by March 25, 2014, the 100th anniversary of Borlaug's birth.