On October 15, 2019, “I AM QUEEN MARY (A Hybrid of Bodies, Nations, and Narratives)” (2019), a seven-foot original sculpture memorializing Black and African-descent resistance to Danish colonial rule by collaborating artists La Vaughn Belle (BCRW Artist-in-Residence) and Jeannette Ehlers, will be installed in Barnard Hall at Barnard College. 

“I AM QUEEN MARY” is a scale iteration of the original 23-foot monument, which is currently on view in front of the West Indian Warehouse in Copenhagen, Denmark. It has received international press coverage since its unveiling in March 2018, including articles in the BBC World News, New York Times, and Le Monde. On long-term loan to the Barnard College, it will be on view in Barnard Hall, open to the public. 

The College community will welcome the sculpture in a brief ceremony on Tuesday, October 15, 2019 at 6pm. There will be a public event scheduled early in the spring semester where the community can interact with the artists to discuss the important questions the sculpture raises about public art, representation, and the place of “I Am Queen Mary” at Barnard College.

This version of the sculpture was funded by the Ford Foundation Gallery for an exhibition in June 2019.

See press release here.