(21 Nov 2019) Sculptor Meredith Bergmann recognizes the honor of creating the first statue of women in New York's Central Park.
Bergmann's monument to three leaders in the fight for women's rights - Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Sojourner Truth - will take its place among the 23 statues of men and two fictional women - Mother Goose and Alice in Wonderland - currently in the park.
"I think about what it would have meant to me as a child to see this monument, to know these histories. I think about the size of it, the scale of it, where it will be and who it will affect. And I am incredibly moved to have been chosen to add this to New York City," Bergmann said.
Bergmann pointed out that her statue is a contemporary take on "the 19th century monument that should have been built for these women and wasn't."
It has taken six years for the statue to become a reality.
The effort was spearheaded by the nonprofit Monumental Women which has raised $1.5 million to fund the statue.
The idea initially met opposition from park officials who balked at putting any more statues in the 166-year-old park.
"So we said, could you show me where that is written. Is it a law or a regulation or some sort of codification of 'There shall be no other statues' ? And of course they couldn't because they made it up as they went along," Pam Elam, president of Monumental Women pointed out.
Final approval was granted in October after several redesigns and the addition of Sojourner Truth, an escaped slave and women's rights activist.
"There were different changes and I think there was a concern that there'd be a woman of color who was part, she was part of the decision making for all of us to vote. And Sojourner Truth also was a New Yorker," Gale Brewer, the Manhattan Borough President, said.
The original design was chosen from 91 entries.
Bergmann says the current design shows a slice in time open to interpretation.
"It's a group of three women in conversation, the exact moment in the conversation is up to you to decide who is listening to whom, who is speaking to whom," Bergmann said.
The monumental task of creating the nine-foot (2.7-meter) tall statue has put Bergmann on a tight timeline.
"Because of the time urgency of this project, which working backward from August 2020, when they are to be unveiled, we need a number of weeks for installation, four to six months for bronze casting, which means six months for bronze casting and then a month for mold making. I have to finish these by the end of this month," Bergmann said.
The monument will be dedicated on August 26, 2020 marking the 100th anniversary of American women winning the right to vote.
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