Jim Henson Statue A statue of Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog seated on a red granite bench resides in front of the Adele H . Stamp Student Union at the University of Maryland , College Park , Henson ' s alma mater . Together the statue and bench comprise the Jim Henson Memorial , which was a gift of the class of 1998 . Surrounding the memorial is the Henson Memorial Garden , which was designed by landscape architect Philip Cho as a gift from the classes of 1994 and 1999 . Of the $ 217 , 000 total cost for the memorial and garden , the three classes donated twenty percent , and the university and student union provided the remaining funds . Origin of the memorial . According to Henson archivist Karen Falk , the notion of an on - campus memorial for Henson grew out of the special event " The Muppets Take Maryland " , which took place at the university in 1997 . Choosing a design . A committee composed of representatives from the university , the class of 1998 , and the Henson family , and presided over by Jane Henson and Bonnie Erickson , held a national competition to select a sculptor for the project . Sculptors were given the same set of basic criteria : Henson and Kermit seated on a bench . In December 2000 , the committee chose Jay Hall Carpenter from a small pool of finalists after he presented a miniature clay model of his design . Carpenter had previously worked as a sculptor for various memorials and for the Washington National Cathedral . When the commission was announced , Jane Henson remarked " [ Carpenter ' s ] grasp of Jim ’ s work and spirit makes him the ideal artist to create this statue of Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog . " Carpenter later said of his design " I think everyone else sort of had them in the traditional pose of Kermit sitting on Jim ' s shoulders . My idea was a little different . Jim always presented Kermit as a separate entity so I wanted to do that as well . " " The way I see it , they ' re talking about their next big project , and , so they ' re in this animated discussion , and in the middle of it , Kermit reaches over and touches Jim , as a little gesture of solidarity . " Building the memorial . The memorial was built in several stages . Carpenter first sculpted a full - size clay model and cast it in bronze at the New Arts Foundry in Baltimore , Maryland . The statue was cast in several pieces and then welded together . Meanwhile , the red granite bench was manufactured in Texas and assembled on - site in College Park . The finished statue was then joined to the bench on - site on September 22 , 2003 , two days before the unveiling ceremony . The unveiling ceremony . The unveiling ceremony was held on September 24th , 2003 , on what would have been Jim Henson ' s 67th birthday . The event featured a giant inflatable balloon of Kermit ; in addition , university officials renamed Campus Drive " Sesame Street " for the day , as they had done earlier for " The Muppets Take Maryland " event . NBC ' s Willard Scott emceed the ceremony , and he and Jane Henson shared their reminiscences with attendees . Henson said that the the Adele H . Stamp Student Union was a “ fitting place ” for the memorial because Henson had designed poster art there as an undergraduate . The unveiling was timed to coincide with the exhibit " Jim Henson ' s Designs and Doodles " , which took place at the The University ' s Hornbake Library from September 15 through December 19 , 2003 . In addition , a Muppet movie festival was held at the university ’ s Hoff Theater on the two days preceding the unveiling . The occasion also served as the premiere of " " , a video commissioned by Jane Henson and produced in association with the Paulist Press . The video , which contains footage of sculptor Jay Hall Carpenter creating the Jim Henson Statue , was recognized with a Telly Award .