The Abilene Cultural Affairs Council will be unveiling five new Dr. Seuss sculptures at Everman Park during the ArtWalk and CajunFest on April 11.

“We borrowed the sculptures last year for the Children’s Art and Literacy Festival and everyone in Abilene loved them so much we decided to add them permanently,” said Kimmy McNiece (’12), director of Abilene Broadway series and special projects for ACAC.

Abilene will be the only city in the nation to have what was previously a retrospective and touring sculpture collection as part of their permanent collection. The ACAC purchased the bronzes with contributions from the Abilene community and fundraising efforts.

“We want to emphasize Abilene is a family-focused community and we’re promoting families to come together, spending time together at the park or even having a picnic,” McNiece said.

The five new sculptures will be covered and then unveiled at 5:30 p.m. by students from various Abilene elementary schools. This month’s ArtWalk will be attended by over 800 members of the Abilene community and held in conjunction with Abilene Education Fund’s third annual CajunFest, which will include a crawfish boil, free cookies and ice cream.

The sculptures will be an addition to the already existing Cat in the Hat sculpture in Everman Park. All six statues are made of bronze and depict characters from various Dr. Seuss books. They include Yurtle the Turtle; the Lorax; Horton; the Grinch; and Sam I Am. There will also be colored lights projected onto the sculptures for visibility after dark.

“We love the values that the Dr. Seuss stories promote and ultimately want to benefit the children,” McNiece said.

Elizabeth McVey, ACAC director of marketing, said she hopes to exhibit Abilene’s culture of arts and literature.

“We hope for kids to enjoy this safe and fun environment while learning about the unique history of the city they live in,” McVey said. “So many groups of people don’t realize what extreme culture the city of Abilene has to offer.”