Rumors of War, a statue mirroring and challenging Confederate monuments, will be installed Tuesday at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond.
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Mallory Noe-Payne reports
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The statue is modeled after one of Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart. It is the same size and structure, but features a black man with dreads and street clothes astride the horse.
The work will go outside the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, along Arthur Ashe Boulevard, in the heart of Richmond’s arts district.
Richmond’s Mayor, and Governor Ralph Northam, will be at the unveiling and, of course, artist Kehinde Wiley. He spoke at the statue’s initial reveal in New York City in September. “The story starts with going to Virginia, of course, and seeing the monuments that line the streets," Wiley said. "But it’s also about being in this black body.”
Wiley says that when visiting Richmond, Confederate monuments gave him a sense of dread and fear and that his statue is meant to broaden the idea of what it means to be American.
The event in Richmond begins at 3:30 in the afternoon Tuesday. Click here for more details about the event.
If you can’t make it, the statue isn’t going anywhere. It’s now a permanent part of the museum’s collection.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
