Philadelphia’s permanent Harriet Tubman statue received unanimous final approval by the Philadelphia Art Commission, according to city officials.
Now the City of Philadelphia can begin the contracting process with artist Alvin Pettit.
After a public input campaign in September, Pettit’s statue design entitled “A Higher Power: The Call of a Freedom Fighter” was selected for permanent placement outside Philadelphia's City Hall.
“It is appropriate that this statue portraying Harriet Tubman as a strong soldier is located on the apron of City Hall where two other statues of Civil War soldiers stand,” Public Art Director of the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy Marguerite Anglin said in a news release.
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Pettit had modeled Harriet Tubman’s stance in the statue after the 1975 painting of George Washington "The Prayer at Valley Forge" by Arnold Friberg.
Pettit's statue will honor Harriet Tubman as a leader, Civil War hero and the first woman to lead an armed military operation in the United States, according to city officials.
“Harriet Tubman was a beacon of light at a dark time in our Nation’s history, and she helped Black people find freedom through the Underground Railroad,” Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said in a news release. “Her recognition and this work of art in her honor, created by an artist of color, is overdue and welcomed. Hundreds of thousands will see this sculpture every year outside City Hall. As the first ever Woman Mayor of Philadelphia, and as a Black Woman, I am thrilled that the first piece of public art to be approved under this administration will be this statue of a Black Woman who fought for freedom here in Philadelphia -- Harriet Tubman.”
For more information about Philadelphia’s Harriet Tubman statue click here.
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