Nationally-renowned sculptor Brett Garling needs to be inspired by his subjects which made it easy for him to accept an offer to create a bronze statue of Aboriginal rights campaigner William "Bill" Ferguson.
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Months in the making, the "nearly finished" memorial will be erected at Dubbo's Church Street rotunda and unveiled on May 4.
Church Street was where Bill Ferguson made his last public appearance before his death in 1950.
The prolific sculptor, who runs Garling Gallery at Wongarbon, admits he didn't know his subject's history when he was offered the commission.
"It was really a learning curve for me but I discovered a remarkable character," Mr Garling said.
"He was one of the people who made Australia great and among the unsung heroes."
Bill Ferguson was an Indigenous rights activist, shearer and trade union official.
He founded the Aborigines’ Progressive Association in Dubbo in 1937, lobbied government for Indigenous citizen rights and organised a day of mourning conference in Sydney on the 150th anniversary of the landing of the First Fleet in Australia.
The day of mourning led to the formation of the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee and the establishment of NAIDOC Week.
Ferguson family members and supporters have campaigned for years for a memorial and established the Wiiliam Ferguson Trust Fund.
They include Bill Ferguson's grandson William "Willie" Ferguson, Rod Towney and Meg Huddleston.
Their efforts were rewarded in 2018 when Dubbo Regional Council received a grant of $120,000 from the NSW government's Stronger Country Communities Fund.
It is paying for the construction and installation of the about 195-centimetre-high statue which will have its subject standing on a soapbox and next to an A-frame bearing a message.
Mr Garling, who spoke with Bill Ferguson's family and community before getting to work on the statue, has employed the lost-wax process.
Initially, he built a steel armature or "skeleton" and covered it with chicken wire so clay would stick.
"I then go into sculpturing in earnest, mostly with my hands," Mr Garling said.
"Once you have sculptured the piece and its all been approved, then you go into the moulding process."
Multiple steps later, he is ready to "put together" sections of the statue which have been individually cast in bronze.
"I've got as close to him as I possibly can," Mr Garling said.
Dubbo regional mayor Ben Shields said it was important that icons like Bill Ferguson were recognised so future generations would learn of their achievements.
"I’d like to congratulate an active group of citizens have been working for many years to raise and secure the necessary funds to make this dream a reality,” he said.