A New Statue in Chicago Honors Gwendolyn Brooks

Margot McMahon is the sculptor behind a new public artwork in Gwendolyn Brooks Park, which pays homage to the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who would have been 101 years old today. Made in Gwendolyn Brooks's likeness, McMahon's work is the first statue and memorial located in a Chicago public park to portray a Chicago-based Black poet. It was made in collaboration with Nora Brooks Blakely, who manages her mother's estate. "The statue of Brooks is part of a larger installation that includes a replica symbolizing her porch along with a pathway of stones engraved with lines from her poems," writes Lolly Bowean of the Chicago Tribune. "The entire installation will be unveiled at the North Kenwood park on South Greenwood Avenue that carries her name." From there: 

“This project would have been so important to her,” said Blakely, who oversees an organization that, among other things, manages her mother’s estate. “Years before she passed, her name was carved into the Illinois State Library. I remember, when they had the ceremony, Mama came out and just looked at her name carved in stone. I got emotional seeing her so deeply affected.

“Now, her actual likeness is in bronze, in a place for young people to access,” Blakely said. “This would have been one of the most important moments for her in her life.”

The unveiling bookends a celebration honoring Brooks’ 100th birthday. As part of that centennial, there were gatherings of nationally acclaimed poets, exhibits, live readings and school programs, and even the performance of an original play about Brooks’ life. In addition, Blakely released a book, “Seasons,” that compiles some of Brooks’ most famous writings along with some of her previously unpublished works.

The statue installation comes at a time when the accomplishments of pioneering women, African-Americans and other minorities are increasingly being recognized with memorials, statues and public works of art. In Chicago, for example, there are memorials that honor women like Jane Addams — but few statues or busts that present an actual image of notable women.

There is no official directory, but the statue of Brooks is believed to be only the second statue or bust of an African-American woman in the city. A bust of Georgiana Rose Simpson, who was the first black woman to earn a doctorate from the University of Chicago, was unveiled last year at the Reynolds Club, the university's student center.

Learn more at Chicago Tribune.