York statue at Mt. Tabor Park (Brian Libby)
BY BRIAN LIBBY
Have we ever talked about statues more than we have in the last 12 months?
For those of you scoring at home, 2020 began with the unveiling of the Portland Building renovation, including unprecedented views from behind America's second-largest statue: Portlandia by Raymond Kaskey. Then a succession of statues came down.
On the eve of the Juneteenth holiday, a George Washington statue outside the German American Society in Northeast Portland was pulled down by protesters. In July, as several blocks downtown erupted with protests over police brutality and the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police (itself met by violent armed response), the city's beloved Elk statue by Roland Hinton Perry between Lownsdale Square and Chapman Square was preemptively removed; as federal troops entered the scene, the city became an international story. In October, statues of former presidents Abraham Lincoln (who of course signed the Emancipation Proclamation) and Teddy Roosevelt in the South Park Blocks were toppled, again a national story. Later that month, a statue of longtime Oregonian editor Harvey Scott at the top of Mt. Tabor Park was toppled.
To put it another way, protesters removed statues of all but one of the U.S. presidents who were commemorated on Mt. Rushmore, and they toppled a sculpture (of Scott) by the creator of Mt. Rushmore, Gutzon Borglum. To varying degrees, it was shocking—especially the Lincoln statue. But these acts also cause us to consider the nuances of the past, whereas statuary essentially asks us to do the opposite: to only gaze up in awe.
Now, though, after all those unsanctioned removals, last month there was the opposite kind of political activism. Someone actually clandestinely erected a statue: of York, the Black slave that accompanied Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in their famous exploration of the American west at the behest of President Thomas Jefferson (the fourth Rushmore honoree).
As a plaque on the statue explains, York crossed an untamed North American continent with Lewis and Clark and then had his request to be freed denied.
Back in October when the Scott statue was toppled, many may not have noticed because it followed the toppling of more prominent statues of more famous Americans. But this surprise arrival of the York statue and its heretofore-anonymous origin has once again captured interest far beyond the 503 area code.
The York statue from Mt. Tabor's Harvey Scott Circle (Brian Libby)
York and York
Let me just come out and say right away that I love this York statue and the chutzpah that went into making and erecting it. After so much destruction, it was nice to witness some creation.
Although the artist behind this York statue has so far not been publicly identified, he gave an interview to Artnet's Sarah Cascone (who identified the artist as male). "I’m very familiar with Mount Tabor Park, and seeing that empty pedestal often, it just came to me, literally in the middle of the night, that York belonged there, looking out over Portland,” the artist told Cascone. “I’m going to let the community sit with the sculpture for a while as I try to figure out the life of the sculpture in the future."
“What I’m hearing is people talking about York,” he added. “I didn’t know what to expect, so I am very pleased that the city and the parks service understand the value of the statue’s presence in Portland.”
At this point, however, I think it's important to note that there already is a York statue in Portland, and has been for over a decade.
It's called York: Terra Incognita and was designed by Los Angeles-based artist Alison Saar. It has stood at Lewis & Clark College since 2010. Granted that campus in Southwest Portland is not exactly a high-trafficked area, but neither is the top of Mt. Tabor.
York: Terra Incognita at Lewis & Clark College (Wikimedia Commons)
Knowing about Saar's statue gave me pause after I visited the anonymous York statue at Mt. Tabor. Although I had marveled at just how many people were visiting this act of guerilla art at the top of this little dormant volcano—and like the anonymous artist said, people have been talking about it, including in a New York Times feature—the fact that few have discussed York: Terra Incognita emphasized to me that, while many may profess affection for this new sculpture and its subject, a sizable part of that affection must be for the act itself: the toppling of the Harvey Scott statue and replacing it with York, without permission. That's understandable, because it's the same psychology that helps make a lot of graffiti art compelling. Even so, I found myself wanting visitors to seek out York and his story for its own sake, not just because for the theatricality of the statue's surprise arrival.
Long Term Consideration
One thing I've already been asked a few times is whether the City of Portland might allow this second York statue at Mt. Tabor to stay permanently. And to be sure, they have not been quick to remove it. Often illegally-placed art is removed the day after it's erected. In this case, city leaders seem to understand that's not the best move. Yet while the York statue is convincing, upon closer examination the head is made of hard plastic, and the front of its base seems to be painted wood or fiberboard.
The idea of some future permanent version of the York statue is intriguing, or perhaps an exhibit of the statue at an art gallery or museum, especially if the artist is willing to identify himself. I like the idea of some combined art exhibit featuring York, perhaps some of the artist murals created over the boarded-up windows of the Apple store, and maybe the Elk statue before it returns to its spot on SW Main Street.
Close-ups of Mt. Tabor's clandestinely-erected York statue (Brian Libby)
But what else might we do at this Mt. Tabor site in the long term?
Let's consider for a moment the Harvey Scott statue that was toppled. There were very good reasons for this political act, yet there are also reasons that the Scott statue could be restored, especially if it's paired with a second artwork.
The statue was created by Gutzon Borglum, who is also the artist behind Mount Rushmore. In fact, he was working on Rushmore in 1933 when the Harvey Scott statue was erected. And while I'm no apologist for a conservative like Harvey Scott, I do think it's a particularly well-done statue.
Harvey Scott is, with the hindsight of history, a complex figure with real accomplishments as well as some regrettable, even cringe-inducing views. He opposed women's suffrage, organized and public high schools, for example. It's also arguable that he was no monster. He became part of the Associated Press's national leadership, traveled the country promoting the Pacific Northwest, and as a child crossed the Rocky Mountains his family, helping to drive a team of oxen and persevering as his mother died along the way. As Oregonian editor for decades, Scott turned down two different ambassadorship offers to remain at the paper.
Harvey Scott statue (Landmark Hunter)
One doubts we would choose him for commemoration today given Scott's conservative views. Actually, that's the bigger overall problem with statuary: it seems to ask us to look at very human historical figures in simple good-or-bad terms.
Even so, Scott was also the brother of Abigail Scott Duniway, Oregon's greatest suffrage leader. I can't help but wonder if, instead of tearing down the Scott statue, it might have been better to add a statue of Abigail next to that of Harvey. Their sibling rivalry helped shape the Oregon we know today: one with a particularly strong duality between the liberal city and the conservative rest of the state.
Such precedent exists in Seattle. As I discussed in an interview with art historian Fred Poyner IV in a recent episode of my In Search of Portland podcast, about the Elk statue, at Pioneer Square there is a bust of Chief Seattle by James Wehn, completed in 1909. (Wehn was Caucasian.) But placed next to it is the 1991 work Day/Night by Native American artist Edgar Heap of Birds. The two works are in conversation with each other. It's not quite the same as a potential Harvey Scott/Abigail Scott Duniway statue combo. But the point is that we can change the context of the Scott statue, should it return.
Paired old and new artworks in Seattle's Pioneer Square (Seattle.gov)
What I also think we sometimes forget about the toppling of statues during protests: it's okay to re-erect them, and when we do so, a wave of new vandalism is not about to restart.
I'm not saying we should re-erect the Harvey Scott statue. But what if we were to re-erect the Lincoln and maybe the Roosevelt statue? What if the wave of citizen anger over racial injustice needed to be heard, and they needed a shocking act or two to get the public's attention, but afterward we established a public process to decide on those statues' futures?
Abraham Lincoln was no saint, but I suspect a majority of even liberals would favor that statue returning, as would a wide cross-section of local communities. But don't take my word for it: Let's put that to the test. And if substantial public opposition exists, then we rethink the statue's return.
Lincoln statue, South Park Blocks, before it was toppled (Brian Libby)
It's also time we returned the Elk statue to its original spot. No one ever deliberately toppled this statue. The City of Portland removed it when the base became accidentally damaged. The base of the statue still needs to be rebuilt. But we should at least be starting a public conversation about the Elk statue restoration. Were the base ready to accept it, we could bring this statue back today. Yet a public forum about its future is not such a bad idea. We could place it exactly as it was, turn it around to face the river, or brainstorm an entirely different location.
What's also special about the Elk statue is that it is not of a human. That's particularly important to note, however obvious it may seem, because part of the recent rash of statue-destruction happening worldwide has made me wonder if hagiography itself should be on trial. What if making statues of our leaders does something unwanted to them? What if it takes away from their true narratives, presenting a story with colorful nuances in high-contrast black and white? I think the Elk shows us the unifying power of choosing animals over humans. The Elk statue celebrates a majestic native species, but it also acts as symbolism. In Native American mythology, the elk is seen as a protector, much like the lion in Western culture.
Roland Perry's Elk statue, in storage (Brian Libby)
If there's more than enough reason to bring back the Elk and plenty of good reasons to bring back Lincoln or Washington, I am not sure I would vote against the Harvey Scott statue returning to Mt. Tabor, even if paired with an Abigail Scott Duniway statue — not simply because of Scott's conservatism and opposition to suffrage, but because of the Scott statue's sculptor. In fact, I can't help but wonder if Gutzon Borglum was the motivation for activists to topple the Scott statue as much as Scott.
No doubt Borglum's resume is impressive. Mount Rushmore alone would make him one of the most significant sculptors in American history. Borglum, who was born in 1867 in Idaho and died in 1941 in Chicago, also created including the Stone Mountain sculpture in Georgia (depicting Confederate president Jefferson Davis and generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson), the statue of Union general Philip Sheridan in Washington, and a bust of Abraham Lincoln exhibited at the White House by Theodore Roosevelt. But Borglum was also a member of the Ku Klux Klan. That's a deal-breaker.
Embracing Obsolescence
One other idea I've been thinking about for these statues is the solution found in former Communist-controlled Budapest's Memento Park: creating a collective resting place for obsolete statuary. Memento Park is located about seven miles outside the city center of Budapest, with statues of Lenin, Marks and Hungarian Communist leaders. What if we placed the Harvey Scott statue and maybe some others together in some place outside the central city? Again, I wouldn't quite feel comfortable seeing Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt here, but I'm sure we could find a reconsidered leader or two to join Harvey.
Although it's a fair argument that the people we choose to pay tribute to in bronze may change in some cases over time, I still think even when we remove a prominent statue it should not necessarily be completely forgotten. That's what I like about the Budapest idea: by changing the context, it makes clear that these are no longer to be seen as unassailable heroes, but it also acknowledges that history without wiping it under the rug. And given that thousands visit Memento Park every year, looking upon these once-earnestly regarded statues in a more ironic way is part of the healing process.
Perhaps this also brings us back around to why the erection of the York statue at Mt. Tabor—an elaborate, thoughtful and sophisticated prank—is so welcome. If pulling down statues has long been part of societal upheaval and movements for justice, so too must the next step be followed: a deep look in the mirror, and a true consideration of what heroes we want to represent us in bronze: or even if we do at all.
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Excellent, well-considered writeup. Thank you for the perspective.
Posted by: Jeffry Uecker | March 08, 2021 at 11:31 AM
The problem with taking down the mistakes we've made is that we will forget them, and succeeding generations will go ahead and make them all over again. I say, leave up the slaveowners' statues so we can talk about them. Leave Trump's tweeted lies up for all to see and judge. And so on. Your idea of dueling statues sounds good to me.
And please put back Abe and Teddy.
Posted by: Matt Kallio | March 08, 2021 at 05:35 PM
Even Michaelangelo's David sculpture faced "embracing obsolecence," as public display of artwork also implies a culture evaluating the artworks' use/value to symbolize 'obsolete' values and ideologies of the day.
https://www.sylviaprincebooks.com/blog/2016/the-politics-of-david
Posted by: Brian Borrello | March 10, 2021 at 01:27 PM
I've thought for years of creating a "Mt. Rushmore sequence" on the South Park Blocks with relocated statues of Washington and Jefferson joining Lincoln and Roosevelt outside the Oregon Historical Society. If that's a worthwhile concept, this might be a good time to think about it.
As for the statue of Harvey Scott, that might be better located inside the Oregon Historical Society, if there's a place for it. Both the man and the sculptor are historically significant, but I don't think either warrants public honor in the 21st century.
I'd chip in to a fund to put Abigail Scott Duniway's statue on Mt. Tabor, replacing her brother.
The Elk should face the river. Its old position left it turning its back to the one-way traffic on Main.
Posted by: Douglas Kelso | March 10, 2021 at 03:57 PM