LITTLETON ALSTON: I look at the maquette as a poem and then I look at the four-foot version as a short story.

And then the seven-foot which will be in bronze of Willa in Statuary Hall will be the novel.

(soft piano music) NARRATOR: Red Cloud, Nebraska, where people come from all over the world to experience the little town that Willa Cather brought to life in her novels.

(horse neighs) ALSTON: How absolutely wonderful it is to see everyone in their white shirts and their Sunday best to come out and actually be seen but also to see and experience the town life itself, how rich it is.

I bet these people thought that this would only grow to another Chicago.

(clapping) This is an American society that's curious about the world.

And things as interesting as a Ferris wheel is magic to children.

And maybe this is a renaissance for this town, to come back to its cultural hub, it's heart.

NARRATOR: The house where Willa Cather lived as a child has been preserved just as it was in the late 19th century.

ALSTON: I think visiting Red Cloud enriches me.

There's no question about it, slows everything down.

And you start to really measure by inch everything.

We're standing in her life which is a novel.

And I'm creating a sculpture of her and I want to capture the poetry.

So, it's really the essence of her and yet, it's as rich as say the chapters of a novel.

For the artist, for me, it's research for sure but it's a research that I lovingly engage in.

(piano music) ALSTON: It's a fascinating journey.

(door clangs) (audience applauds) ATTENDEE: It's really nice to meet you.

Thanks for coming to Red Cloud.

See you soon.

ALSTON: Absolutely.

ALSTON: Thank you, thank you.

(muffled conversing) WOMAN: She's lovely.

ALSTON: Thank you.

WOMAN: And she's gonna be seven-foot tall?

ALSTON: Yes.