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Photo: Omar Afra Image 1 of / 10 Caption Close Image 2 of 10 "It's always funny until someone gets hurt. Then it's just hilarious." "It's always funny until someone gets hurt. Then it's just hilarious." Image 3 of 10 "Children are smarter than any of us. Know how I know that? I don't know one child with a full time job and children." "Children are smarter than any of us. Know how I know that? I don't know one child with a full time job and children." Photo: David Johndrow / RYKO Image 4 of 10 "I'm a heavy smoker. I go through two lighters a day." "I'm a heavy smoker. I go through two lighters a day." Photo: Graham Haber Image 5 of 10 Image 6 of 10 "I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out." "I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out." Photo: Graham Haber Image 7 of 10 "If you're so pro-life, do me a favor: don't lock arms and block medical clinics. If you're so pro-life, lock arms and block cemeteries." "If you're so pro-life, do me a favor: don't lock arms and block medical clinics. If you're so pro-life, lock arms and block cemeteries." Photo: Graham Haber Image 8 of 10 "The best kind of comedy to me is when you make people laugh at things they've never laughed at, and also take a light into the darkened corners of people's minds, exposing them to the light." less "The best kind of comedy to me is when you make people laugh at things they've never laughed at, and also take a light into the darkened corners of people's minds, exposing them to the ... more Photo: Graham Haber Image 9 of 10 "We all pay for life with death, so everything in between should be free." "We all pay for life with death, so everything in between should be free." Photo: Getty Images Image 10 of 10 Bill Hicks statue will be coming to Houston: Here's a sneak peek 1 / 10 Back to Gallery

Over two years after initially announcing plans to fund the construction of a statue of Houston comedy legend, the organizers behind the project say that they are in the final casting stages.

Omar Afra with Free Press Houston announced an ambitious plan at Free Press Summer Fest in 2012 to commemorate the work of comedian Bill Hicks with a stone statue to be placed somewhere in the Houston area.

Hicks died in February 1994 after succumbing to pancreatic cancer at the age of 32. His comedy albums are now like biblical scripture for some comics.

His last public words, which he wanted released upon his death, were positively sublime, considering Hicks spent his comic career raging against everything, albeit with a twinkle in his eye.

“I left in love, in laughter, and in truth and wherever truth, love and laughter abide, I am there in spirit.”

Afra says that that the team he hired in Utah is currently in the final stages of the production of the cast. After the cast is approved by the collective of people spearheading the project, including members of the Hicks family, the bronze statue will be created. That could come by the middle of 2015.

The group came to a consensus on the Hicks pose used for the statue. If you look at the photo that Afra posted recently onto Instagram you may be able to narrow down which pose was used a reference point for the Hicks figure.

The statue was initially supposed to be made of stone but Afra says that that was one of many things that changed along the project’s evolution. Making the statue bronze increasing the price considerably too, he said. Being made of stone would have also constrained the vision of the artist and decreased its durability.

In the beginning stages of the project Houston artist David Adickes was to create the statue but as his schedule began to get tight, Afra says everyone decided to move on to the group from Utah.

“He is a busy, busy guy. He helped us develop the idea so we owe him a huge debt of gratitude. He really schooled on us on what would and would not work,” says Afra of Adickes.

Funding for the statue has come from all over the United States and even Europe.

“This isn’t just five or six people who have made big donations, its many people from the community,” he says, adding that he has put up the lion’s share of the costs out of his fandom of Hicks.

“The volume of donations has demonstrated the enduring love of Hicks,” he says.

The hard part will be then deciding where in Houston the statue will be placed. Afra would like it to be somewhere where it would be appreciated. If it is put somewhere on public grounds it would take a lot of cooperation with Houston city government, which Afra would actually welcome.

“Do we want to open up that can of worms? Yes to a certain degree. It would open up a public discussion about which people we do have statues and monuments for right now in Houston,” he says. He mentions statues for George H.W. Bush and James A. Baker. Last year The Texican mentioned just a handful of other famous Houstonians that need bronze or stone monuments.

Native bluesman Lightnin’ Hopkins only has a historical marker in the Third Ward, and that was after years of legwork on the part of fans and family. Dr. Denton Cooley rightfully has his own statue St. Luke’s Hospital. Nolan Ryan’s statue out at Alvin Community College captures the hurler in his trademark pitching pose.

Victoria Karpos is the custom project coordinator for Statues.com, based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. They have been tasked with making the Hicks statue.

“We’re all at the age here where Hicks made an impact on our lives, so this has been a fun project,” says Karpos. The process began a month back after the company and Afra finally decided on a design for the six-foot statue. Right now they are still in the clay mold part of the journey.

“We’ve done lots of research on his hair, clothing, and everything. The important part is portray in the sculpture the reality of who he really was, right down to the wrinkles on his forehead and those dimples that appeared when he spoke,” says Karpos. Elaine Bell is the lead sculptor on the project.

“He always had a cigarette, glasses, and that intense look,” says Karpos.

When the artist gets to a stopping point they will send video and photos to Houston to get feedback. A visit from Afra might also be in store, to see it up close before it is signed off on and goes to the next round: the rubber mold that the bronze statue will be made off of.

There seems to only one place in Houston for Hicks in bronze form: Montrose. Even with its currently changing personality a statue of this sort would be a welcome addition.

“We want people to be able to see it and stare up at it and ask who Bill Hicks was and what he stood for on stage and in his life,” Afra says.