Robert E. Lee Confederate Statue To Be Melted Down & Turned Into Public Art
Image via Katherine Welles / Shutterstock.com
A statue of the Confederate General Robert E. Lee, once located in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia, has been subject of heavy debate over its removal. Earlier this year, following a violent white supremacist demonstration that left one killed and many injured, it was finally removed.
This week, it was stated that the statue had received approval to be melted down, with the material being reused to create a public arts project. It will be overseen by a local Black-led nonprofit organization, the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center (JSAAHC).
Dubbed Swords into Plowshares, the project is hoping to engage Charlottesville’s residents in discussion on how inclusion can be represented through public art, NPR reports.
Over half a year’s “community engagement process” will feed into the transformation of the melted bronze, which will be undertaken by “an artist of national significance” to create the new piece of sculptural art. There are plans in place for this new work to be completed and displayed publicly in Charlottesville by 2026.
After the statue was removed in July, the pedestal upon which it stood still remained. However, on Sunday, Governor Ralph Northam announced the decision for the pedestal to be taken down too. This will happen by the year’s end.
“The Lee statue has been a singular source of harm to the Charlottesville community. We believe that racist symbols are not immutable parts of our cultural heritage,” the JSAAHC states in a campaign aiming to raise funds for the project.
“Swords into Plowshares offers Charlottesville—and the nation—the chance to transform our trauma into renewal through art. We hope this process may become a model for other communities hoping to heal from racial violence.”
[via NPR, cover image via Katherine Welles / Shutterstock.com]
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