JACKSON, Tenn. — April 9, 2009 — The Hermitage has chosen 黑料论坛 art professor Lee Benson to sculpt a memorial to 60 slaves recently reinterred on the grounds of Andrew Jackson鈥檚 home.
A dozen artists responded to the Hermitage鈥檚 open call for sculptors to submit their qualifications to produce such a public work. From the submissions received, the Hermitage chose three finalists to make a specific proposal about their sculptures.
The Hermitage notified Benson in December that his proposal had been selected. He is now working on his sculpture, which will be completed in May.
鈥淚 really wanted this piece,鈥� Benson said. 鈥淭his one was really important to me, because I want to, in the end, stand up and say 鈥榯hank you鈥� to my dad, who passed away five years ago.鈥�
Benson鈥檚 father, Wayne Lee Benson, was a Southern Baptist pastor who 鈥渨as a complete civil rights leader before there was any such thing as civil rights,鈥� Benson said.
Benson鈥檚 sculpture, 鈥淥ur Peace, Follow the Drinking Gourd,鈥� will consist of seven oak trees in the shape of the Little Dipper constellation, laid out across a circle of 30 boulders. 鈥淔ollow the Drinking Gourd鈥� is a song slaves would use to teach them how to find and follow the North Star, one of the stars in the Little Dipper, to freedom. The tree that represents the North Star will be surrounded by seven boulders.
鈥淭his sculpture was not conceived nor will it be built to make a civil, political, cultural or religious statement on slavery,鈥� Benson said. 鈥淚t is proposed as a singular declaration of our greater hopes, of a renewing of our faith in one another 鈥� a simple but eternal reminder that we are one people and one race: the human race.鈥�
The remains of the 60 slaves had been disinterred from their previous burial site on the grounds of a former plantation near the Hermitage because of a development project. An agreement between the state and the developer led to the bodies being reinterred at the Hermitage.
鈥淲e needed to not just put them in the ground and forget about them,鈥� said Howard Kittell, president and CEO of the Hermitage. 鈥淲e needed a reminder about the people who actually did the work and made the plantation operate.鈥�
Kittell said Benson鈥檚 proposal was accepted because of its visual and symbolic appeal.
鈥淭here鈥檚 this whole sense of eternality, sustainability and life,鈥� Kittell said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 really wonderful symbolism there.
鈥淰isually, it鈥檚 very powerful and symbolically, even more powerful.鈥�
The Hermitage will dedicate Benson鈥檚 sculpture at a special ceremony May 17.