Dallas’ Hall of State will soon unveil a sprawling 2,000-piece centennial exhibit. Thomas Feely, a Pennsylvania artist, has been assembling the diorama since 2000.
Feely wanted to take his time to make sure every detail was in place.
The artist went as far as to change the angle of a soldier’s arm to make the exhibit perfect. The Alamo display is 1/54th scale and measures 14 feet by 24 feet, with over 2,000 carved and hand-painted soldiers.
The exhibit pays tribute to the Battle of the Alamo, a pivotal event in Texas history that led to Texas’ independence from Mexico.
The battle took place at the Alamo, a former Franciscan mission in present-day downtown San Antonio occupied by Texian soldiers.
Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna led a siege against the fort beginning on February 23, 1836. Though he ordered the Texians to surrender, they refused.
Though they faced forces that outnumbered them an estimated nine to one, the Texian soldiers held the Mexican army off for 13 days before they were finally overpowered. All 189 Texians that fought to defend the Alamo were killed, and Santa Anna had their bodies burned.
The Alamo became a symbol of the Texians’ resistance to oppression and their struggle for independence in the Texas Revolution.
Despite the loss at the Alamo, Texas secured its independence shortly afterward in the April 1836 Battle of San Jacinto, which lasted only 18 minutes. Reportedly, the troops echoed the cry of “Remember the Alamo!” at the victory at San Jacinto.
When the Dallas Historical Society was seeking an artist for its Alamo Exhibit in the Hall of State, Rick Range of the Alamo Society suggested Feely’s name to Dallas Historical Society’s Karl Chiao.
“He has done so many jobs,” executive director Chiao said of Feely. “He has been a police officer. He has been a bar owner. He’s kind of a jack of all trades, but one thing he’s always loved is making little figures. Or figurines. He loves to create these little figurines.”
Part of Feely’s inspiration for the Alamo exhibit is the Davy Crockett television show starring Fess Parker. Feely used this as inspiration to continue reading everything he could about the Alamo using 70 to 80 years of multiple writers’ research. One of the many soldiers in the exhibit has Fess Parker’s likeness, while another soldier figure resembles John Wayne.
The exhibit bringing the full scope of the 13-day battle to life will be on permanent display at the Hall of State in Fair Park beginning March 29.
“The name of this diorama is Texas Liberty Forever: The Battle of the Alamo,” said Chiao.
While Chiao was born in Taiwan, he and his family moved to San Antonio, Texas, when he was 5 years old.
The executive director stated that there is no better way to honor the historical society than for people to come to the Hall of State to see Feely’s masterpiece with their own eyes.