Discussion over Arkansas' “Monument to the Unborn" continued at a meeting Tuesday.
The Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission heard from artist Lakey Goff. She designed the memorial to be a complex living wall of plants, with looping audio of waterfalls and a plaque decrying souls lost from abortion.
In past meetings, Goff has sparred with state board members over the cost and feasibility of her design. Tuesday, she further shocked members when she said she retained legal counsel to copyright the design.
A copyright claim means no one can alter the complicated monument plan. This could tie the hands of committee members; many have already expressed cost concerns. Some implied they may ditch the artist all together.
“The Monument to the Unborn” was created through a 2023 state law. Rep. Mary Bentley, R-Perryville, wrote the legislation to commemorate the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade. On the house floor, Bentley called Roe a “Holocaust.”
“We forgot how precious human life is,” she told her colleagues.
The Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission oversees monuments on the Arkansas State Capitol grounds. They allowed any artist to submit ideas for the monument. A few suggestions were submitted and made public.
Lakey Goff’s living wall of plants idea won the day.
“God is doing a new thing with this wall,” Goff said at one meeting, describing the wall as a “healing” monument.
Immediately, board members were skeptical. A wall of plants may be difficult to grow in Arkansas, a state known for unstable weather patterns. It would also be easy to vandalize, difficult to water and need regular staff maintenance to keep up.
Cost estimates said the monument will be incredibly expensive. One analysis put the price tag at about $900,000. Goff does not share concerns about funding with the rest of the board. She is a devout Christian, and says the money will come.
“This project is funded by heaven,” she said at one meeting.
Perhaps her most outspoken adversary on the board is Tony Leraris. About once a meeting, he gives a speech on the monument’s feasibility issues.
“I think there is a tremendous amount of money that still has to be raised,” he said at one meeting last year. “And we all think the money is going to fall from heaven.”
He was similarly outspoken at the meeting on Tuesday.
Goff said she has raised $25,000 for a $900,000 monument. She has a $100,000 deadline for October, meaning she has a few weeks to round up $75,000.
Goff said she will raise the money.
“There is no fear,” she said. “There is no scarcity.”
Leraris first said Tuesday he was “cautiously optimistic” Goff could meet the deadline.
But, the tone in the meeting changed when Goff announced she copyrighted the design. She went further, saying “the design cannot be altered.”
“The game has just changed,” Chairman Stephen Bright said to the group.
The update means the design can't be edited, so if the board needs to change something, they may have to go a different direction.
Leraris seemed to grow more frustrated.
“You told us all that God would send the money,” he said to Goff. “I think we'll all be dead and gone before the money is ever raised.”
Goff tried to interject, but he stopped her.
“That's my opinion, I don't need a lecture.”
New capitol monument
A less controversial monument inside the capitol was discussed at the same meeting. A 2025 state law calls for a memorial to Maurice Lee “Footsie” Britt inside the building.
Britt was a highly decorated soldier from Arkansas, winning the Medal of Honor in World War II. The monument is planned to be designed by Little Rock artist Kevin Kresse, the same artist behind the statue of musician Johnny Cash at the U.S. Capitol.
