Taft Project Will Honor 100 Years of Oil Workers
March 28, 2009
A groundbreaking ceremony Friday in Taft attracted a large crowd, including several local dignitaries, to the site of a proposed oil worker monument intended to commemorate the men and women who helped turn the town into a center of oil production.
Artist Labors for Taft Centennial
March 6, 2009
Sculptor Benjamin Victor had his work cut out for him: One of three finalists, he had three months to construct a scale model for Taft’s Oilworker Monument to celebrate the city’s 100th anniversary next year.
Sculptor to Make Artistic Contribution to Hometown
March 5, 2009
The vision of a monument to oil workers is closer to becoming reality, as community members selected a final design for the homage to those who built up one of Kern County’s most vital industries. “Oil was the lifeblood of this community,” sculptor Benjamin Victor said. “It’s why the city of Taft budded here, and it’s also the lifeblood of the country in a way as a source of energy.” Read full story.
Victor Selected to Build Oil Worker Monument
March 5, 2009
The Oil Workers Monument committee unanimously selected Benjamin Victor, a man born in Taft and raised in Bakersfield, to construct a monument the committee plans to complete in time for the city’s 100th birthday in October 2010. Read full story.
Oil Workers in Bronze
March 6, 2008
Oil field workers and their contributions to modern Taft could one day be the subject of the county’s largest sculpture, a 30-foot-high monument made partly of bronze.