Marian Anderson

Commissioned by Converse College in Spartanburg, SC to honor the world-famous contralto, Civil Rights icon, United Nations delegate and good-will ambassador Marian Anderson, 1897- 1993.

I tried to convey her beauty, dignity and radiant energy, to show her at an ideal time of life but hint at her youth and age, and to portray her singing with its many moods and vast range. Rather than evoke a regal, motionless beacon as she sometimes appeared on stage, I set her body in swirling motion, urging the viewer to walk around her and experience the statue through time, like music.