Two artists with Ozark connections will create new sculptures for the grounds of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which was founded by Alice Walton four years ago.

The announcement was made earlier this week.

George Dombek, a native of Paris, Ark. who is well known for his finely detailed watercolors, is casting a bronze sculpture of a stick bicycle and an apple tree in the 12-foot-high Tour de Tree.

Pat Musick will create A Place Where They Cried, a tribute to the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee Creek and Seminole people who traveled through Arkansas as part of the Trail of Tears forced migration in 1837 to 1839.

“These two works of art, so different in spirit, represent the diversity of themes and media that will be represented in Crystal Bridges’ sculpture program,” said Chris Crosman, the museum’s chief curator, in a news release. “We want to celebrate the rich history and artistic environment here in the Ozarks.”

Dombek, who earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture and a master of fine arts in painting from the University of Arkansas, has taught architecture at universities across the country and in Saudi Arabia and Italy.

“I’ve been doing sculpture forever, but not to exhibit,” he said. “Fourteen years after constructing the first bicycle out of wood it is great to realize a bicycle and tree cast in bronze that will be placed at Crystal Bridges.”

Pat Musick received her doctoral degree in philosophy and her master of arts in design from Cornell University.

Her sculpture A Place Where They Cried builds on an earlier work, Yokes on the Trail of Tears, now in Tyson Food Corporation’s permanent collection.

Work is underway on both pieces. The museum hopes to complete installation of both works in 2010 when the museum is scheduled to open to the public.

Founder Alice Walton makes a speech at the Crystal Bridges Museum construction site in Bentonville, Ark. Image courtesy of the museum.

Crystal Bridges is a non-profit organization focused on creating a world- class museum and cultural center for the public.

“Because of Alice Walton’s extraordinary vision for Crystal Bridges and the museum’s emphasis on education and culture, the Walton Family Foundation has provided significant funding to help make the dream of Crystal Bridges a reality,” the museum Web site reads.