Inside DeSantis' $2 million quest to put up bronze American statues

Liv Caputo, Tampa Bay Times on Aug 25, 2026

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First came the bronze-cast statue of George Washington.

Then came Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and 11 other American icons, their homes ranging from the Florida Keys to the Panhandle.

Coming soon? A joint sculpture of baseball icons Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth.

All told, Florida has so far approved spending nearly $2 million for 18 statues in honor of America’s 250th anniversary, the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald found in an analysis of state records.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, a history and baseball buff, has crisscrossed the state to publicize the unveilings. In his final year as governor, he’s also posted repeatedly on social media about the statues, baseball and the country’s Founding Fathers.

But he hasn’t spent time detailing who made the statues, where they came from and how much they cost — although he’s frequently joked that he’s getting the statues “at a discount” because blue states keep taking them down.

Here’s what to know.

Who do the statues depict? Where are they?

Of the 18 statues, 10 are presidents — two of which are replicas of an 18th-century George Washington bust.

Three are key figures in American history: Christopher Columbus, Juan Ponce de Leon and Frederick Douglass.

Two are founding fathers who never became president: Ben Franklin and Alexander Hamilton.

Two others are American symbols: Lady Columbia and the replica Liberty Bell.

One is the forthcoming baseball duo.

Four statues are still to come, set to add to the 14 bronzed effigies in 12 counties — often matching the historical figure’s name to the eponymous county. (The Hamilton statue went to Hamilton County, for instance.)

It’s not clear who decided which statues would get commissioned. Neither the governor’s office nor the Department of State, which commissioned most of the statues, answered questions from the Times/Herald about the sculptures.

Where did the money come from? And how much do the statues cost?

The artwork ranges from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands, with the most expensive so far expected to be the $268,500 Gehrig-Ruth piece — which will picture them “sitting, no bench,” state records show.

The statue of former President Ronald Reagan, at Florida International University, appears to be the only one donated at no cost to the state.

The remaining homages are largely being paid through federal trusts or from Florida’s land acquisition grant fund, with about $440,000 so far coming from general revenue.

Who made the sculptures?

Nearly all have been made in Loveland, Colorado, which is known as “Sculpture City, USA.”

Of the nearly $1.8 million agreed to, $1.4 million is going to Austin Weishel, a Colorado artist and founder of Honorable Sculptures.

Weishel, who did not respond to a request for comment, has been commissioned to create nine of the statues, which he posts about on his Facebook account.

Still to come from him:

Christopher Columbus, John Quincy Adams, Columbia — the female personification of America — and the Gehrig-Ruth sculpture.

The remaining sculptures were awarded to Colorado-based Shanan Campbell Enterprises; Massachusetts-based Skylight Studios; and Jefferson County, Florida-based Bradley Cooley, who owns Bronze by Cooley. Each made two statues apiece.

Skylight Studios told the Times/Herald that state officials reached out to them “sometime in early 2025.” The others did not respond to a request for comment.

Another company, Metal Castings of Colorado, was tasked with creating a bronze cast for the James Madison sculpture.

DeSantis and social media: Baseball and the founders

Heading into the waning days of his term, DeSantis has used social media to reveal his more personal thoughts and hobbies — including a new food channel — a marked difference from his administration’s early, media-insular days.

He’s talked about everything from his favorite bands and coffee to detailed discussions on history and baseball. Many of those he’s talked about have also been rendered as statues for the America 250 celebration.

DeSantis, who was the captain of his Yale baseball team and was briefly a history teacher, has posted about baseball at least 79 times and the Founders and presidents at least 94 times in his last year as governor.

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