S. F. commits $ 250,000 for Angelou monument
Sometimes, it turns out, San Francisco City Hall does the right thing in the end.
A pledge in June 2017 to install a statue honoring the late writer and civil rights activist Maya Angelou outside the Main Library turned into a debacle of wasted time and hurt feelings and resulted in absolutely no progress at all.
But finally, Berkeley artist Lava Thomas has secured apologies and a commitment of up to $ 250,000 to create her monument to Angelou. She has accepted both — and her 9foot bronze book with Angelou’s face on the front will grace our city. Eventually.
There’s still no timeline after the original goal of next month was not even remotely achieved. But in our political era of infighting and division, the fact that everybody’s on the same, well, page is remarkable.
“That justice was served in this situation is a testament to the enduring power of Dr. Angelou’s legacy,” Thomas said. “Her unifying voice and insistence that ‘ We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike’ is needed now, more than ever.”
That line comes from Angelou’s poem “Human Family” which reads, in part, “I note the obvious differences between each sort and type, but
we are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.”
The strange saga — which captured international attention in the art world — began 3 ½ years ago when thenSupervisor Mark Farrell announced legislation to increase the representation of women in the public realm, starting with the tribute to Angelou. Angelou moved to San Francisco as a teenager, attended Washington High, went to church at Glide and became the city’s first Black female streetcar conductor at age 16.
Farrell pointed out that just two statues in the city’s 87piece public collection represented real women: a bust of U. S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein at City Hall and a depiction of Florence Nightingale outside Laguna Honda Hospital. The Board of Supervisors agreed, Farrell’s office raised money and three artists including Thomas were selected as finalists in the summer of 2019.
A selection panel including Angelou’s son, Guy Johnson, named Thomas’ monument, “Portrait of a Phenomenal Woman,” as its top pick. The choice still needed approval from the full Arts Commission, but usually the selections sail through.
But Supervisor Catherine Stefani, who took Farrell’s seat when he briefly became mayor and took over the statue project, said the choice was a nogo. She wanted a traditional statue like the ones depicting historical men in Golden Gate Park and elsewhere — not a large book with a face on it. This despite Thomas’ creation being much more modern and eyecatching and the fact that an oldfashioned, European style of honoring white men wouldn’t make sense for a 2020 tribute to a Black woman.
The Commission’s Visual Arts Committee opted to start the process all over again and
“We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.” Maya Angelou in “Human Family”
clarify the intention for a literal statue. Thomas understandably refused to participate and said San Francisco didn’t even deserve a monument to Angelou.
Finally, in August the Arts Commission apologized to Thomas and put its second attempt at an Angelou statue on hold. That’s where we last left off in this tale of bureaucratic bumbling.
But now there’s a happy ending — or the chance of one anyway. In September, Thomas, Stefani and Mayor London Breed talked via Zoom and Thomas received an apology from both women. ( Breed had not said much publicly about the statue, but had apparently agreed with Stefani that Thomas’ pick wasn’t the best choice.)
Jeff Cretan, Breed’s spokesman, said, “Sometimes things can get challenging, but the important thing is to sit down, figure it out, talk to each other and then move forward.”
Stefani reiterated her apology to Thomas at a recent Visual Arts Committee meeting, saying, “My actions hurt and angered people, and I understand why. Although I was unintentional in causing that kind of pain, the bottom line is that I did. ... I am truly sorry.”
The full commission voted this week to cancel its second attempt at finding a new artist to design the Angelou statue and to award a contract of up to $ 250,000 to Thomas. She said she intends to “make some enhancements” to the original proposal, but hasn’t settled on what those changes will look like.
Asked how she’ll feel when she is someday standing on the Main Library steps to unveil her tribute to Angelou, Thomas said, “humility, pride and gratitude.”
“The long and difficult road to arrive at this outcome required everyone involved to eventually listen to one another with respect and empathy, and for those in power to finally rectify a wrong and to do the right thing,” she said.
Thomas said she’s already proud of the outcome — even before her statue is completed. It’s a good lesson for all of us that listening to each other, really listening, is always a smart idea.