Historian and author Bill O’Neal is seen in August by a new Texas historical marker on the Panola College campus.

CARTHAGE — It will be a gala-like, all-star evening Feb. 17 when the annual Carthage Arts Walk of Fame holds the second annual induction ceremony.

Honorees this year are sculptor Bob Harness and historian and author Bill O’Neal, according to Cindy Deloney, executive director of Carthage Main Street.

The induction ceremony is set 6 p.m. Feb. 17 at the Esquire Theater in downtown Carthage.

“It’s a really fun night celebrating what they do and what they’ve done,” she said of the honorees. “The first hour is a champagne reception where you can congratulate them, talk with them and look at their work.”

The event is free and open to the public, Deloney said.

“We’ll have exhibits for each of the artists inside of the theater,” she said. “This is not an invitation only event — it is open to the general public for anyone who wants to come and help us celebrate these individuals.”

Presentations about O’Neal and Harness will include videos highlighting their work.

“At the conclusion, we’ll walk outside and they’ll unveil their plaques on the sidewalk,” she said. The plaques are unique to each artist, Deloney said.

She said Carthage Main Street’s Arts Walk of Fame was approved by the Carthage City Council as an additional community event to recognize residents making, or who have made, significant contributions in the area of the arts in all forms.

Deloney said among the goals of the Arts Walk of Fame is to build connections “with the incredible artistic and creative talent, while inspiring the next generation of artists and creators to follow in their footsteps.”

Harness, 89, was born in Oklahoma, is a Korean War veteran and is an honored graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute.

Following graduation, Harness taught classes at the Kansas City Art Institute, specializing in drawing and painting.

He was employed by Hallmark Cards as a designer, Western Auto Corporate as a master layout artist and McCormick Distilling Company as the executive art director.

Bob and his wife, Martha, moved to Carthage in 1995 after retiring to be closer to their three children, Deborah Labron, Suzanne Taylor and Rob Harness. He started sculpturing as a hobby, which launched his second career as a sculptor of large bronze pieces.

Examples of Harnesses’ commissioned statues in Carthage include an 8-foot Tex Ritter and his horse, White Flash, in front of the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame; the 11-foot tall Panola College Pony Fountain; the Mildred Jefferson bronze in Anderson Park on the downtown square; and the seated bronze of Marjorie Neil in a park-like setting at the intersection of West Panola and North St. Mary streets.

His work has taken a prominent role outside of Carthage with a 7.5-foot statue of Martin Luther King Jr. in Shreveport; a 6-foot statue of Dr. John Raley at Oklahoma Baptist University; and an 8.5-foot statue of Judge Roy Hofheinz at the University of Houston.

He also sculpted a 14.5-foot-tall bronze statue of Jesus at the Footsteps in the Sand monument.

O’Neal is a former college professor, historian and author by and was sworn in as the State Historian of Texas in 2012 by Gov. Rick Perry.

During his six-year tenure, he traveled tens of thousands of miles across the state as an ambassador for Texas history. He is a past president and fellow of the East Texas Historical Association and the West Texas Historical Association.

O’Neal has written 54 books and more than 300 articles and book reviews.

A member of the advisory board of the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, he wrote a biography of Tex Ritter and teamed with Tommie Ritter Smith to write the 25th anniversary story about the Hall of Fame published this past year.

O’Neal came to Carthage in 1970 as a faculty member at Panola College.

In 2013, Panola College’s new dormitory was named Bill O’Neal Hall, and in that same year, he received an honorary doctor of letters degree from his alma mater, Texas A&M University-Commerce. Twice, in 1988 and 2014, he was named Panola County Citizen of the Year.

He has appeared on TV documentaries on TBS, The History Channel, The Learning Channel, CMT, A&E and the American Heroes Channel.

In 2012, O’Neal received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Wild West History Association, and in 2007, he was named True West Magazine’s Best Living Non-Fiction Writer.

O’Neal’s four daughters all entered the field of education: Lynn O’Neal Martinez, Shellie O’Neal, Berri O’Neal Gormley and Causby O’Neal Henderson.