Boston Flora

Tag: Meredith Bergmann

  • Monday, December 4, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm – Faces of Phillis

    The Associates of the Boston Public Library warmly invite you to our fifth annual Pierce Performance, Faces of Phillis, a staged reading and panel discussion that will celebrate Phillis Wheatley Peters, the first African American and the second American woman in the United States to publish a book of poetry. The event commemorates the 250th anniversary of the publication of Phillis Wheatley Peters’s groundbreaking book, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.  Look for the statue of Phillis Wheatley on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall.

    This three-part event includes: 

    1. a staged reading written by British-Nigerian playwright Ade Solanke and directed by Regge Life. Faces of Phillis includes two dramatized moments from Phillis Wheatley Peters’ life.  Adeola Solanke, also known as Ade, is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and founder of Spora Stories. Her acclaimed debut play, “Pandora’s Box,” received a Best New Play nomination in London’s Off-West End Theatre Awards. Ade has been recognized as the Best Playwright in the Nigerian Entertainment and Lifestyle Awards and received Best Play honors in the African Film Awards. Her work has graced renowned stages across the UK, including Arcola, Young Vic, and Sheffield Crucible Theatres. Ade recently completed two Fulbright Distinguished International Fellowships at Emerson College and the University of Southern California.

    2. a panel discussion featuring Ade Solanke, our playwright, Meredith Bergmann, the sculptor for the 2003 Boston Women’s Memorial, and Kyera Singleton, the Executive Director of the Royall House Museum.

    3. a dramatic poetry reading by Boston’s Poet Laureate and BPL Trustee, Porsha Olayiwola.

    The event will take place in the Boston Public Library’s Rabb Lecture Hall on Boylston Street on December 4 from 6 – 7:30. For those who can’t make it in person, sign up here to access the event virtually on Vimeo for one week following the production. 

  • Saturday, October 21, 11:00 am – Women’s Memorial 20th Anniversary Celebration

    The Boston Women’s Heritage Trail invites you to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Boston Women’s Memorial on Saturday, October 21 at 11 am. Meet at the statue on Commonwealth Avenue at Fairfield Street, on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall. Meredith Bergmann, Sculptor, will be the featured speaker. The event is co-sponsored by the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay and by The Friends of the Public Garden. In case of inclement weather, the event will take place at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square. Free.

  • Sunday, October 28, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – 15th Anniversary Celebration of the Boston Women’s Memorial

    Sunday, October 28, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – 15th Anniversary Celebration of the Boston Women’s Memorial

    This October marks the 15th anniversary of the Boston Women’s Memorial, commemorating the lives of Phillis Wheatley, Abigail Adams, and Lucy Stone.

    Dedicated in 2003, the Boston Women’s Memorial is the newest sculpture on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, donated with funds raised by the Boston Women’s Commission. Initially proposed to address Boston’s under-representation of women in public statues, the effort began in 1992 when Mayor Thomas M. Menino reserved the Fairfield-Gloucester block as the site for a memorial honoring women. The commission worked for ten years to select the subjects, choose the artist, raise the money, and oversee construction and installation of the memorial. The bronze figures, by New York artist Meredith Bergmann, are at ground level, not on top of pedestals. The women are shown in casual poses, writing and thinking.

    The three women honored share a Boston connection, a place in national history, and a passion for social justice. Abigail Adams (1744-1818) was the wife of the second president of the United States and mother of the sixth, whose letters established her as a strong voice for women’s advancement. Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784), a slave brought from Africa to Boston, became a literary prodigy whose poems were the first book published in America by an African writer. Lucy Stone (1818-1893) was an ardent abolitionist and suffragist, a renowned orator, and a leading figure in the struggle for women’s rights, inspiring Susan B. Anthony and others.

    The Boston Women’s Heritage Trail will be celebrating the 15th Anniversary of the memorial on October 28th, from 1:00-3:00pm on the Fairfield-Gloucester block of the Commonwealth Avenue Mall. This is a free event, touching on the history of Boston’s signature female-focused memorial, and the significance of its subjects.

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