Billy Frank Jr. Maquette Unveiling Ceremony in the State Reception Room at the Washington State Capitol, Jan. 10. 2024.

About the maquette: The Billy Frank Jr. maquette models a statue that will be displayed in the National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C., being the first to depict a contemporary Native American. This decision was part of a legislation passed in 2021 to replace the Marcus Whitman statue in the national statuary hall collection. Haiying Wu was selected by the National Statuary Hall Selection Committee, co-chaired by Willie Frank III, Lt. Governor Denny Heck, and Rep. Debra Lekanoff, to create the statue.

Haiying then built a “maquette” to understand the proportions, gesture, and arrangement of the different elements of the sculpture, which will later be developed into a full-scale clay statue cast in bronze. After the ceremony, a copy of the maquette will be displayed in the lobby of the Lt. Governor’s office.