Breaking the Bronze Ceiling

Margot McMahon in her studio with her Sculpture, in clay, of Gwendolyn Brooks. Behind her is a painting done as a study for the work.

For whatever reason, people in Chicago and all over the world are starting to notice how few women have been honored with a public, outdoor statue.

I’m starting to see and hear about it everywhere and want to share some of the interesting articles and podcasts I’ve heard on the topic.

This article says that the U.K.’s statues are a mere 2.7% of all statues, but that’s above Chicago’s embarrassing zero, see more about that below.

I just wrote an article, linked below, about the very first, the very first, statue of a woman to go into a Chicago Park (or ANY public place in the city), which will be installed in June 2018.

How Long Does It Take to Get a Sculpture of a Black Woman in a Chicago Park? Two Lifetimes.
http://moorewomenartists.org/long-take-get-sculpture-black-woman-chicago-park-two-lifetimes

Chicago Parks Have ZERO Statues of Women, 48 Statues of Men
https://www.wbez.org/shows/morning-shift/chicago-parks-have-zero-statues-of-women-48-statues-of-men/b64e2275-11f4-4cee-822c-8efd1a9cdd63

WBEZ in Chicago answers the question Where Are All The Women? in their Curious City Podcast episode:
https://www.npr.org/podcasts/401317007/curious-city (scroll down)

She Should Be Here: you can vote!
http://interactive.wbez.org/curiouscity/womens-statues

Unladylike is the new podcast by the former hosts of Stuff Mom Never Told You. This episode has a terrific interview with the nurse who served in the Vietnam War and then led the movement to get the Vietnam Women’s Memorial in Washington, D.C.
https://unladylike.co/episodes/06/bronze-ceiling

inVISIBLE Women in the UK is doing some great work, it’s very encouraging to see.
http://www.invisiblewomen.org.uk/gettingattention

Of the 51 female statues listed in this map, only 7 are actual women, who lived and breathed and are not allegories, fictional characters or just nudes. (I’m also not counting figurative headstones as public sculptures.)

Boston is way ahead of Chicago (always the Second City!), with it’s Women’s Memorial that honors Phyllis Wheatley, Lucy Stone and Abigail Adams. Hip, Hip and Hooray for those three being honored! Another huzzah for Boston for choosing a woman artist, Meredith Bergman, as the sculptor. You can see it here.

A slight boo that the women have to share their space on the public stage.

Any statues I should know about?  Please post a comment!