Following the Trail

If the public sculptures we visited were pins on a digital map, you would realize how closely spread out within each other, and the theme you can relate these sculptures to would be Unity as people. The sculptures that we visited that caught my interest the most are Unity (2019), by Hank Willis Thomas, and Henry Ward Beecher Sculpture, by John Quincy Adams Ward, which was made in 1891. Although both sculptures were created during different times old and new, both are made of bronze and bronze being a darker material tends to signify someone of color. I know Henry Beecher wasn’t someone of color, however he was very important in Abolitionist history as long as Brooklyn history. The Unity sculpture of the hand pointing up to the sky is representing a dark colored hand pointing up one finger to symbolize coming together as one. When juxtaposed on a map, the story will reveal itself when all the dots appear in the same block radius on how equality has come a long way and we are way different now compared to long ago in history. Knowing the background of Beecher, and how he viewed everyone as equal no matter your race or social status, and seeing the Unity sculpture tells me that Brooklyn is a whole it is one combined with everybody of different cultures. Just the Beecher statue itself I may not have been able to see the symbol of Unity.