Bust of O'Bannon created at college

ANDERSON -- A bronze bust of the late former Indiana Gov. Frank O'Bannon was cast Tuesday at the Anderson University Art Foundry and will soon be displayed at the Indiana Statehouse.\nKen Ryden, a professor of art at the university, was awarded the contract to complete the bronze bust, which will cost $20,000 of privately raised money.\nRyden poured boiling bronze into a handcrafted mold of O'Bannon's head Tuesday. The air tasted metallic and smelled of burnt pennies as the media and O'Bannon's wife, Judy, watched, The Herald Bulletin reported.\nAn hour and a half later, the bronze was set and Ryden cracked open the mold with a sledge hammer. The bronze bust of O'Bannon shone amid the dust and clay pieces.\n"It's magnificent," Judy O'Bannon said.\nThe bust will be displayed at the Statehouse beginning in January in an alcove just outside the Democrats' door to the Senate, where O'Bannon served as a senator for 18 years. He also presided over the chamber for eight years as lieutenant governor.\nO'Bannon, a Democrat, was first elected governor in 1996 and then again in 2000. He died of a stroke in September 2003 with about 16 months left in his term.