TV Land to Unveil 'The Andy Griffith Show' Statue During Special Ceremony In Raleigh, N.C. On Tuesday, October 28

NEW YORK, Sept. 16 -- TV Land, television's home to the best programming from the past 50 years, and the city of Raleigh, North Carolina will honor The Andy Griffith Show with a bronze statue capturing the show's famous opening sequence depicting Andy Griffith and a young Ron Howard in their roles of Sheriff Andy and Opie Taylor walking, hand-in-hand. The statue will be placed in the pastoral environment of Raleigh's Pullen Park and unveiled at a special ceremony there on Tuesday, October 28. Griffith is scheduled to be joined on stage by Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker and Larry W. Jones, General Manager and Executive Vice President, TV Land.
"Mayberry is a state of mind that represents the very best of the North Carolina culture -- friendly, unpretentious, compassionate, fun-loving, decent and solid. As the capital of North Carolina, Raleigh is eager to welcome two such old and dear friends home.
We can't wait to see Andy's and Opie's statue and invite everyone in North Carolina, the country and TV Land to visit and embrace this graceful state of mind," said Charles Meeker, Mayor, City of Raleigh.
"TV Land is honored to salute The Andy Griffith Show with a landmark celebrating this world wide family favorite," said Larry W. Jones. "The indelible impression of Andy and Opie walking hand-in-hand is TV Land's way of saluting the American family."
As part of TV Land's Landmark initiative, The Andy Griffith Show sculpture represents the network's third effort to honor classic TV. The network's first salute
-- a bronze statue of Ralph Kramden of The Honeymooners -- was unveiled in 2000 and now adorns the entrance to New York City's Port Authority Bus Terminal. In May 2002, a bronze statue of Mary Tyler Moore from The Mary Tyler Moore Show was unveiled and now stands on Nicollett Mall in downtown Minneapolis, MN. TV Land can be seen on Channel 54 on the Time Warner Cable System in Raleigh/Durham.
Studio EIS, a three-dimensional design and sculpture studio in New York founded by brothers Ivan and Elliot Schwartz, created the life-sized bronze sculpture. StudioEIS' entry was selected following an invitation to select sculptors across the country earlier this year. The design selection was made by TV Land executives, Andy Griffith, Ron Howard and the city of Raleigh.
The StudioEIS sculpture and design team is comprised of 10 members which includes portrait Sculptor, Stuart Williamson, a former Senior Sculptor at Madam Tussaud's London. All are under the direction of Ivan Schwartz, Studio Director and Art Director for the project. In addition to the TV Land commission, the famed sculpture and design studio has done numerous projects for museums and corporations across the country. The studio recently completed what may be the largest bronze portrait project in American history, a project that depicted all 42 framers of the U.S. Constitution displayed around the signing table at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, PA. This monumental project was unveiled last month.