PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy wants the public's help choosing a design for a new Harriet Tubman statue outside City Hall.
The city has narrowed it down to five semi-finalists: artists Vinnie Bagwell, Richard Blake, Tanda Francis, Alvin Pettit and Basil Watson. People can vote for and rate the proposed designs online until Sept. 1.
Participants can rank the designs based on artist excellence, originality and emotional quality. Respondents can also leave additional comments about the work, which will be reviewed and considered by the advisory committee.
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The final design will be selected by the African-American Statue Advisory Committee. Once it’s officially approved, it will be the first statue of a Black female historical figure in the city’s public art collection. It will be displayed on the Northeast apron of City Hall.
Last year, a statue of Tubman leading a child to freedom was on display for about two months at the same location in honor of her 200th birthday. It got a lot of positive feedback from the public and, in turn, the city decided to commission its own permanent statue of her.
But, instead of having an open call to artists to make the abolitionist’s statue, the city picked Wesley Wofford, a white sculptor from North Carolina who designed the temporary statue. This decision was met with much pushback — specifically, from local Black artists who felt the move was unfair.
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Officials heard their concerns and rescinded the offer to Wofford. Soon after, the city sent out a survey to the public to get a better sense of what the statue should look like and how to make it unique to Philadelphia.
To participate in the survey of the five semi-finalists and view their works, click here.