Austen Brantley had two major sculpture installations this fall. On October 8, 2025, Brantley’s Outside the Ring, his tribute to boxer turned golfer, Joe Louis, was unveiled in Detroit. The monument is a tribute to Detroit’s own Joe Louis and is placed on Joe Louis Parkway, a 27-mile greenway also named in the athlete’s honor. “The Joe Louis Greenway is transforming miles of blight and creating beauty and recreational opportunities, while connecting neighborhoods in a new way,” said Detroit Mayor Duggan. “We named the greenway after Joe Louis because of his incredible contributions in and outside of the ring.”  In late October, East Tennessee State University (ETSU) unveiled five life-sized sculptures honoring the first five African-American students integrated into ETSU in the 1950s.  Titled The Path, the sculpture honors Eugene Caruthers, Elizabeth W. Crawford, George L. Nichols, Mary Luellen Wagner and Clarence McKinney and is placed on the campus’s Borchuk Plaza. “They paved the way for me, not just so I could exist, but so I could serve,” Brantley said. “So I could use my hands, my art, and my heart to give something back to my community and to the world.” Brantley said making the sculptures taught him that legacy “is not just about what we leave behind; it’s about how we live right now.”  The unveiling occurred during homecoming weekend and was attended by three of the students depicted: Elizabeth W. Crawford, George L. Nichols and Mary Luellen Wagner.