Juneteenth

2020 | acrylic and oilstick on canvas | 48x72”

In this work, the meaning of the Statue of Liberty is restored to its original intention as a celebration of abolition. This re-conceived Lady Liberty holds aloft broken chains in one hand and a plaque in the other, marking the date, June 19, 1865, when the last of the slaves were freed in Galveston, Texas. 

The monument was conceived in June of 1865 as a commemorative gift from France to the United States to celebrate the end of slavery. In the original design, Lady Liberty held broken shackles. But as the statue came to life, this history was  obscured. The association with immigration was a narrative written after its unveiling. Ellis island received its first immigrants 6 years after the Statue of Liberty was unveiled and the famous poem at the statue's base wasn't written until 1886.