PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia is asking its residents to help decide what a new, permanent Harriet Tubman statue at City Hall will look like, but there is some controversy over the artist commissioned to create it.
If you were near City Hall from mid-January through March 2022, chances are you likely saw the “Harriet Tubman, a Journey to Freedom” statue that sat on the north apron. It depicted Tubman leading a child to freedom, and was made in honor of her 200th birthday.
“It was so popular, and close to 4 million people shared images and commented on the beauty and likeness of the statue and expressed how deeply the statue made them feel,” said Kelly Lee, the chief cultural officer for the City of Philadelphia and executive director of the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy.
“In response to all this positive feedback, the city is commissioning its own permanent Harriet Tubman statue.”
Rather than hold an open call that would put local and Black artists in the running to make the abolitionist’s statue, the city chose to move forward with Wesley Wofford, the white sculptor from North Carolina who designed the traveling statue.
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That decision was met with some pushback from local Black artists. During a public engagement session in mid-June, many expressed their displeasure that a Black artist was not considered to do the permanent statue.
"I'm not in support of this artist doing the work, nothing personal against him," said Leslie Garrett during the live online discussion.
"It should have been brought to the community, and we should have been made aware and been able to select an African American sculpture artist."
"It just seems unfair in terms of a second opportunity,” added Jacqueline Wiggins during the same discussion.
"I would think that if we're going to say that some members are underrepresented, we have a host of people who, I think, it would have been gracious, thoughtful and perhaps the right thing to do to actually have some of these folks be in competition."
"Wesley, all due respect, your work is great. It's not about you, personally. It's all about the process. The process, unlike Harriet Tubman, was not equitable. It's what she fought for," said Dee Jones in the session. She challenged Wesley to help make the situation right.
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"It's hurtful. It is traumatizing. If it was an open call and Wesley was chosen, it would be fine."
Lee maintains they have a good reason for sticking with the original artist, citing how the style and theme of his original work style resonated with city residents.
“It would not be appropriate for us to do an open call and ask another artist to create something in the likeness of another artist’s work,” Lee said.
In a statement, Wofford said he believes that not every public piece should include a call to artists, and often the most meaningful of works come from a raw artistic reaction to a subject matter.
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He also addressed criticism from the session, including calls that he resign from the role of creating the permanent statue and that he is profiting from Tubman.
"I think the elephant in the room is my gender and the color of my skin and it would be naïve to not acknowledge and discuss that, so I did expect to perhaps have a conversation about that specifically. But I was definitely surprised by the personal attacks based on assumptions about who I am as a human being or why I am producing the works I am currently working on," he said.
"Some have asked if I have considered withdrawing from the commission. By this metric, if I as an artist [am] approached by a group of Black women (as in this case), I should say no I only sculpt white men because I am a white man? Based on my experience in the last couple of years with other activist groups around the country, saying no would not only be insulting to them but would rob us all collectively of building the healing bridges and symbols that will bring us together."
With the statue moving forward, there is a seven-question survey for Philadelphians to give their input.
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Lee said the survey not only considers what the statue should look like, but how to make it unique to Philadelphia.
"We're asking about Harriet Tubman’s most admirable qualities,” said Lee.
“We describe three possible themes for our statue, and then we ask questions about those, and this community input is going to help the artist who actually designs the statue. It will help to develop the text of the statue."
People can fill out the survey through July 13.
Lee added that the statue could cost the city upwards of $500,000, and is expected to be completed sometime in 2023.
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