Littleton Alston grew up in Washington, D.C. He and his brothers explored nearby neighborhoods and the National Mall on their bicycles, splashing through reflecting pools, eavesdropping on tours in the U.S. Capitol, and subconsciously absorbing the monumental landscape and its public art. Alston was intrigued by sculpture as a young child, and his mother, recognizing his artistic talent, took him to apply to the then-new high school Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Despite long cross-town commutes, Alston thrived and concluded his high school years by winning a senior art prize. He earned a scholarship and attended Virginia Commonwealth University, where he majored in sculpture. Alston completed an M.F.A. at the Maryland Institute College of Arts Rinehart Graduate School of Sculpture and then worked under several experienced sculptors. In 1989, he had a residency at the Bemis Center of Contemporary Arts in Omaha, Nebraska. In later years Alston studied in Italy and France, where he further explored the sculpting practices that underpin his work in figurative representation; he also studied anatomy at the Creighton University College of Medicine.

Alston joined the faculty of Creighton University in 1990 and is now a full professor of sculpture. He maintains a private studio in addition to teaching. Alston exhibits work regularly and has completed dozens of public commissions. He was selected from more than 70 applicants to sculpt this statue of Cather. In reflecting on his childhood in Washington and his adulthood based in Nebraska, Alston observed that people in the Midwest, like coastal people, have a way of looking far off. He noted that he started life with a sense of denseness and verticality, but that years in Omaha and the vast spaces around it have shifted his awareness to the horizontal. After more than 40 years living and working in the state, he considers himself a Nebraskan.