Given the history of poorly executed bronze statues of celebrities, and the fact that many people (like me) have no particular idea what Gary Gygax looked like, perhaps better to leave the statue out of the plans? The picnic table and D&D map alone might be enough.
The KS author went to great pains to say, “yes, there are bronze statues which look ridiculous, and nothing like the subject, so that’s why we are going to spend big money to hire a skilled sculptor.”
And I am pretty sure that most of the people who will want to donate to this (which is, honestly, the only audience which matters) do know what Gary looked like; I’d guess that a lot of them knew him personally.
I suspect that the sculptors of those famously disliked celebrity sculptures were skilled, so that’s no guarantee.
A good friend of mine, who is a longtime RPG player and GM, and is the facilities manager for a manufacturing company, said this to me when I told him about this Gygax memorial, and the pricetag:
“I’m currently constructing a 6500 square foot building for not a whole lot more than that.”