The City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs to Dedicate Civil Rights Sculpture

March 2, 2010 - PRLog -- “Yes, We Can,” designed by sculptor Robert D. Clements notes the life of Isabel Gates Webster, an African-American attorney noted for unprecedented legal accomplishments.

The City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs will host the dedication of Yes We Can, a public art installation by Georgia sculptor Robert Clements on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 12:30pm. The installation, located in Isabel Gates Webster Park, is the fifth of six commissions installed as part of the City of Atlanta’s Public Art Program Community Gateway Project.

“Robert Clements was able to create an ideal ‘public art situation.’ His subject matter was a pillar in this community and he worked with the children in the same community to create this sculpture. The children were able to take away a history, civic and art lesson and have it permanently reflected in this beautiful sculpture,” said Camille Russell Love, Director of Cultural Affairs.

Yes, We Can, is an 18 foot tall structure adorned with 20 running figures and serves as a gateway to Isabel Gates Webster Park. This public art installation chronicles the life of civil rights attorney Isabel Gates Webster, who under the administration of former Governor Jimmy Carter, became the first woman to be appointed to the Georgia State Personnel Board. Before her death in 1991, Webster was an active member of the NAACP, former Assistant City Attorney of Atlanta and an Associate Judge. Throughout her career, she won several court cases involving employment and housing discrimination including a $2.1 million judgment against Georgia Power, which, at that time was the largest discrimination settlement on record under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Robert Clements is an award-winning sculptor recognized by Who’s Who in American Art and Who’s Who in America. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he received his BFA from Carnegie Mellon University and his masters of arts degrees from Pennsylvania State University. As an art instructor for 25 years at the University of Georgia, he won the University’s highest awards for his teaching and research. His work has been exhibited and collected by the most noted museums and corporations in the country. In addition to his work as a sculptor, he has written three books and 60 articles and directed several grant projects. Clements enlisted students from Atlanta’s Peyton Forest Elementary School (adjacent to the park) to design and paint 250 of the sculpture’s ceramic tiles.

“Working with the children from Peyton Forest Elementary School on this project commissioned by the Office of Cultural Affairs to chronicle a woman not only important in her community but the nation as a whole was a privilege. My goal was to capture the story of Isabel Gates Webster and what she stood for so that her community could forever embrace her legacy,” said Clements.



About the Public Art Program

Atlanta’s Public Art Program is administered by the Office of Cultural Affairs, Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs and is supported by one and one half percent of capital project funding set aside for the inclusion of public art in municipal projects. The Isabel Gates-Webster public art installation is one of six commissions administrated by the Public Art Program for the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs 2005 Greenspace and Recreation Opportunity Bond program. All artworks commissioned by the City of Atlanta Public Art Program’s 2005 Greenspace and Recreation Opportunity Bond serve as a portal into Atlanta’s historic neighborhoods.

About the Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA)

The OCA, a division of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, was established in 1974 to encourage and support Atlanta's cultural resources. The initial mission was to solidify the role that arts and other cultural resources play in defining and enhancing the social fabric and quality of life of Atlanta citizens and visitors. Today the OCA is working to enhance Atlanta's reputation as a cultural destination. The OCA supports programs that educate and expose the public to a rich and diverse range of cultural expressions through a variety of initiatives.

About The Opportunity Bond Municipal Art Projects

In 2005, Mayor Shirley Franklin challenged the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs (DPRCA) to invigorate parks and recreation facilities through the 2005 Greenspace and Recreation Opportunity Bond. The department took up the challenge and initiated an aggressive plan to install art in Atlanta’s parks. The Public Art Program team, led by Eddie Granderson, developed temporary art projects in 11 parks, managed the selection process, contracted artists to develop five gateways in neighborhood parks and commissioned a major mural for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic District. The “Community Gateway Project” represents the installation of public artworks in five distinct communities. New public art was installed in Adair I, Cleopas R. Johnson, Isabel Gates Webster, South Bend and Southside Parks. These public art installations serve as gateways to the parks and neighborhoods and are now a part of Atlanta’s landscape.

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