Mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves “has joined a quickly advancing dual effort to amplify [Anderson’s] voice with a proposed Broad Street sculpture honoring Anderson, and to bring critical funding to the South Philadelphia house museum long devoted to the singer,” writes Peter Dobrin in Thursday’s (7/15) Philadelphia Inquirer. “The project has already attracted $100,000 in commitments…. The sculpture [is] envisioned as standing outside the Academy of Music…. The prospect of a Marian Anderson sculpture … once again highlights how few works of public art in Philadelphia reflect the contributions of the city’s Black citizens…. Among those on the Marian Anderson Memorial Fund Task Force are Metropolitan Opera bass-baritone Eric Owens, author Diane McKinney Whetstone, representatives from numerous Philadelphia arts groups, and experts in public art…. Anderson, born and raised in South Philadelphia, had a major international career as a vocal recitalist. Her role as a civil rights figure arrived when the Daughters of the American Revolution refused her an appearance in Constitution Hall because she was Black. Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the DAR in protest, and the Lincoln Memorial concert was arranged. The event drew a crowd of 75,000 and … cemented her place in American history.”
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