Coordinates: 39°18′04.3″N 76°37′55.3″W / 39.301194°N 76.632028°W / 39.301194; -76.632028

Statue of Billie Holiday

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Statue of Billie Holiday
The statue in April 2018
Map
ArtistJames Earl Reid
Year1985
MediumBronze
SubjectBillie Holiday
LocationBaltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Coordinates39°18′04.3″N 76°37′55.3″W / 39.301194°N 76.632028°W / 39.301194; -76.632028

A statue of Billie Holiday is installed at Billie Holiday Plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue in the neighborhood of Upton in Baltimore, Maryland, United States.[1]

History and design

Plans for a memorial to Holiday in Baltimore began in 1971; a drug treatment centre and statue were envisioned, but only the statue was eventually built. The statue was part of the planned urban renewal of the surrounding area of Upton.[2] The Royal Theatre, where Holiday performed, originally stood diagonally opposite the statue.[1] Holiday was raised in Baltimore.[2]

The sculptor James Earl Reid was commissioned to design the monument to Holiday in 1977.[2] Disputes over the rising costs of the work led to Reid eventually distancing himself from the piece. Reid had also intended that the statue be placed on a 6-foot (1.8 m) pedestal.[2] It was finally unveiled in 1985, without Reid in attendance at the ceremony.[2] The sculpture cost $113,000 (equivalent to $320,120 in 2023).[2] The statue of Holiday is 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) in height.[2] Holiday is depicted in a strapless evening gown wearing her signature gardenias in her braided hair.[1] The sculpture was completed in 2009 with the addition of bronze relief panels depicting events in the African-American struggle for civil rights.[1] These panels had been rejected as too controversial at the time of the statue's unveiling in 1985, and their creation had been approved with additional funding of $76,000 in 2007.[1] The statue was rededicated in 2009 with a base of granite. At its 2009 unveiling Reid said that "[Holiday] gave such a rich credibility to the experiences of black people and the black artist".[2]

One of the panels depicts a child with its umbilical cord attached, in reference to the lyrics of Holiday's song "God Bless the Child". A second panel depicts the lynching of an African-American man in reference to the 'strange fruit hanging from strange trees' in the lyrics of Holiday's signature song "Strange Fruit".[1] In reference to the Jim Crow laws, a crow is depicted eating a gardenia. It is situated behind Holiday, and above Reid's signature.[1][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Cindy Kelly (10 June 2011). Outdoor Sculpture in Baltimore: A Historical Guide to Public Art in the Monumental City. JHU Press. p. 275. ISBN 978-0-8018-9722-1.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Statue of Billie Holiday". Baltimore Heritage. Archived from the original on 2020-11-02. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  3. ^ Rohan, Rebecca Carey (2017). Billie Holiday: Singer. New York: Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC. p. 113. ISBN 978-1-5026-1063-8.
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