Gibbs and Frudakis team up
Frudakis-Petry, who has won numerous awards for her sculpture, such as a gold medal at the Allied Artists Juried Exhibition in New York City; the Barnett Award for Best in Show at the National Academy in New York; and First Prize in Sculpture for Women Artists of Atlantic County, New Jersey, has been working on the statue of Gibbs in her studio in Doylestown. She also has been constantly making refinements to the next-tofinal version of clay before they cast it in bronze to achieve an exceptional likeness of the great Fredia Gibbs.
As Cassius Clay once said, “I shook up the world” after beating Sonny Liston for the world heavyweight boxing championship. Delaware County’s own Fredia Gibbs echoed those same words when she surprisingly captured the world super-lightweight kickboxing title in 1994. The upset of French superstar Valerie Wiet-Henin was seen by millions on pay per view, and with the victory, Gibbs became the first African-American female to win a World Kickboxing Championship. Nicknamed Cheetah, Gibbs had now become “The Most Dangerous Woman in the World.”
“The Most Dangerous Woman in the World” is now teaming up with sculptor Jennifer FrudakisPetry for her own 6-foot bronze statue. Many people in the county feel that Gibbs is arguably the greatest all-around female athlete in Delco history.
Frudakis-Petry, who a little over two years ago sculpted a beautiful 7-foot statue of Emlen Tunnell, the NFL’s first AfricanAmerican player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That statue stands in front of the Radnor Township Municipal Building, Tunnell’s hometown.
Frudakis-Petry, who has over 25 years of experience as a sculptor and comes from a family of sculptors, teaches sculpture classes at the Wayne Arts Center. Her father, the late Evangelos Frudakis, taught her to sculpt and her uncle, Zenos Frudakis, is also a wellknown sculptor with many bronze statues in the Philadelphia area.
The award winning sculptor is excited about her new Fredia Gibbs Statue Project.
“Fredia deserves the honor,” said Frudakis-Petry, “and I am honored to be the one to do it. It will be the first statue of a female athlete in the state of Pennsylvania. It’s long overdue. What’s better than a woman sculpting a statue of a world class woman athlete?”
Before winning the World Championship Kickboxing title, Gibbs was credited with completely turning around a winless Chester High School girls’ basketball program, leading the Clippers to the Del Val title, District Championship and semi-finalist at states. As a senior in 1981, she earned AllDelco, All-State, and All-American honors.
In track, Gibbs won a gold medal at the states and helped lead Chester to the state team championship in 1981. After graduation, she received a scholarship to play basketball at Temple. After a year, she transferred to Cabrini University, where she played basketball for three seasons and was selected to the Division III All-American team.
After her collegiate career, Gibbs played pro basketball in the European Women’s Professional League for team Etzella, based in Luxembourg, where she led Etzella to their first European Cup, while leading the team in scoring and rebounding.
Gibbs, who has worked as an actress and a model, won three world titles in Tae Kwon Do before transitioning to kickboxing.
In 1997, she accepted her next challenge and competed in women’s professional boxing where she became a top contender with several ESPN televised bouts. After achieving a 9-2 record, Gibbs was forced to retire due to an injury.
“I am in awe of being the first female athlete in the state of Pennsylvania to have a statue,” explained Gibbs. “Having a woman do the sculpture makes it even more special. It’s all about the she.”
Frudakis-Petry, who has won numerous awards for her sculpture, such as a gold medal at the Allied Artists Juried Exhibition in New York City; the Barnett Award for Best in Show at the National Academy in New York; and First Prize in Sculpture for Women Artists of Atlantic County, New Jersey, has been working on the statue of Gibbs in her studio in Doylestown. She also has been constantly making refinements to the next-to-final version of clay before they cast it in bronze to achieve an exceptional likeness of the great Fredia Gibbs.
Keeping it in the county, the bronze casting of Gibbs is being done at the Laran Bronze Foundry in Chester. “I do most of my work at Laran,” explained FrudakisPetry. The Laran Bronze Foundry may be the best kept secret in Delaware County.
Phil Damiani, a Sports Legends of Delaware County Museum board member who was the impetus behind our museum making the Emlen Tunnell statue a reality, decided that we should also do a statue of a female athlete and Gibbs was one of Delaware County’s finest.
“Fredia had been to our museum quite a few times,” remembered Damiani, “and I thought that our county had two statues of men and no women, so why not do a statue of an outstanding woman. Fredia embodied everything of the best in sports and the adversity she had to overcome during a tough childhood. Who better to be the first female statue then Fredia?”
Fredia went from a bullied young girl to “The Most Dangerous Woman in the World”. “I was tormented by bullies,” remembered Gibbs. “They would taunt me and chase me home from school.
“It was my uncle who introduced me to karate to help me defend myself. These early karate lessons taught me the important concepts of self-confidence and self-esteem as well as the skills to protect myself.”
Fredia was named among the top ten greatest African American female athletes of all time, alongside Serena Williams, FloJo and Wilma Rudolph.
The statue of Fredia Gibbs will serve as an inspiration to many future generations to work hard, believe in yourself, and live the dream! Fredia said it best, “Be a champion of life.”
Donations to the Fredia Gibbs Statue Project are greatly appreciated, and can be sent to the Philadelphia Community Foundation, c/o of Rosalie Frudakis at 2355 Mount Carmel Avenue, Glenside, PA 19038.