Brooklyn Sculptures

Within our trip throughout Downtown Brooklyn, we got to observe different sculptures from different periods in history and discuss a little about their backgrounds. The two that stuck out to me the most were the Henry Ward Beecher sculpture by John Quincy Adams Ward (1891) and Unity by Hank Willis Thomas (2019). In the sculpture Unity, there is a singular arm displayed that is pointing up to the sky. I really like the open-endedness of this sculpture, and the possibility that it could mean so many different things. The first thing I think of when I saw it was "the sky is the limit". However, the one finger pointing up also makes me think of the phrase "we are one" and gives a very inspirational feel. The Henry Ward Beecher also interested me, more mainly once I heard more about the background of it. The sculpture was designed to "honor" Henry Ward Beecher. He was a pastor, pro-suffrage, and part of the abolitionist movement. The artist put him on a platform with children reaching up toward him as well as a freed black woman. In this design, it can also be seen having supremacist or racist themes. Although, this sculpture may have been made with some good intention, it brings controversy to many people, even today. Overall, these sculptures can point toward overall themes of oneness and change. In Unity, this theme can be very obviously seen, however, with Henry Ward Beecher, I think it requires a bit more background to understand why people see it as controversial. It can display how far ideals in society have come from the time when the Henry Ward Beecher statue was created, to those in this day and age.