The Jackson City Council took care of a formality that will allow a large-scale sculpture with a strong connection to the city to be installed in the Art Garden in downtown Jackson.
The council authorized Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba during its Oct. 25 meeting to execute an art and artifact donation agreement with Kristen Tordella-Williams for her work, “The Eudora Welty Wreath.”
Tordella-Williams, then an assistant professor of studio art at Millsaps College, designed the sculpture that blends more than 100 castings of handprints of patrons at the Eudora Welty Library with castings of used books from the library’s book sale.
The sculpture, which measures 5.5-feet high, 5.5-feet wide and 1.5-feet in diameter and weighs 1,200 pounds, was cast in iron at the Sculpture Trails Outdoor Museum in Solsberry, Indiana in July 2016.
“This piece embodies the power of public art to represent a community, not a singular heroic figure, and to promote positivity and connection, said Tordella-Williams, now an assistant professor of sculpture at Auburn University and president of the Mid-South Sculpture Alliance.
“I’m extremely proud of how it turned out and honored to have it installed in Jackson.”
Displayed in Hattiesburg at the University of Southern Mississippi for about two years, the sculpture is expected to be in place next spring in the Art Garden.
Tordella-Williams proposed donating her sculpture to the city of Jackson in June and submitted an art and artifact donation application to the manager of the Mississippi Arts Center. The city’s Human and Cultural Services Division worked with Tordella-Williams, Downtown Jackson Partners and the Mississippi Museum of Art to locate a suitable place for the sculpture.
Downtown Jackson Partners plans to cover the costs of maintenance and conservation of the sculpture.
The sculpture will need to be routinely inspected at least twice a year to ensure the attachments are secure, the bolts that hold its three pieces together are in solid shape and the patina is holding up to the elements. It will also require a yearly cleaning with a soft scrub brush and Dawn dish soap and water. Every four or five years, the patina must be reapplied.
Tordella-Wiliams received a bachelor’s degree in sculpture from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and an M.F.A., concentrating in sculpture and dimensional studies from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University.
A Faculty Development Grant from Millsaps College, a Greater Jackson Arts Council Project Grant and a Mississippi Arts Commission Mini-Grant provided funding to support the creation of the artwork.
