Boston

Press Release for Talking Statues Premiere
20th Anniversary of Boston Women’s Memorial

The premiere of Talking Statues at the Boston Women’s Memorial will take place on Saturday, October 21st at 11 am, at the site at Fairfield Street on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall. The Talking Statues project is a collaboration between Boston Women’s Heritage Trail (bwht.org) and the Talking Statues Association (www.talkingstatues.com).

October 2023 marks the 20th Anniversary of the Boston Women’s Memorial, a sculpture by Meredith Bergmann of Abigail Adams, Phillis Wheatley and Lucy Stone which has become a beloved Boston landmark. Talking Statues uses a QR code and cellphone to give first person voices to historical figures. The Boston Women’s Memorial audio recording features the voices of Attorney General Andrea Campbell (reading for Abigail Adams), Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (reading for Phillis Wheatley), and Mayor Michelle Wu (reading for Lucy Stone). (Photo: AG Andrea Campbell)

The Talking Statues project is significant for several reasons.

This plaque will be the first with braille for a QR audio code on a city monument, widening access for visually impaired residents and visitors. BWHT worked closely with disability rights activists Kim Charlson from Perkins School for the Blind and Bill Henderson to ensure that the braille was actually readable, because in many instances such as hotel elevators, it is not sufficiently raised to be able to be read by touch. Lubin’s Awards & Promotional was selected to create the 4” by 8” bronze cast plaque based on the company’s strong track record creating signage with braille.

The sculptor, Meredith Bergmann, who recently completed the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument in Central Park and “Something Is Being Done” a tribute to women on the Green in Lexington, Massachusetts, was promised a plaque with her name on it at the time of installation twenty years ago. This was Bergmann’s first major commission and launched her career. The Boston Women’s Heritage Trail, which features the Boston’s Memorial on one of its 20 walking trails, has corrected this omission by adding the sculptor’s name to the Memorial.

The Boston Women’s Memorial is the first Talking Statues site in Boston, though there are many in Europe and New York City including the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument in Central Park which honors Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth and Susan B. Anthony. Noted actors read for Stanton, Truth and Anthony in English and Spanish: Jane Alexander, Viola Davis, America Ferrara, Rita Moreno. Zoe Saldana, and Meryl Streep.

Given the strong roster of elected women officials from Boston, BWHT decided to invite elected leaders to read. The recordings were directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian, Artistic Director of Boston Playwrights Theatre, a home for new stage works on the campus of Boston University. Recordings were by Anastasia Lukina, Alexis Price and Dirk Sobotka from Sound Mirror. Critical assistance was provided by Wellesley College interns Lulu Zibenberg and Cristina Marquez Pereda. The BWHT is grateful to the Boston Landmarks, Boston Art Commission and Boston Parks Department for permission to install the plaque. BWHT also appreciates the assistance and support of Friends of the Public Garden and the Neighborhood Association of Back Bay.  BWHT worked closely with co-producer David Peter Fox from Talking Statues Association to bring the project from idea to fruition. Appreciation also to Schlesinger Library at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute which houses the archives for the BWHT, including materials from this project.

The script for Abigail Adams and Lucy Stone was written by screenwriter Joanne Parrent WGA, and the script for Phillis Wheatley written by Marilyn Richardson, Principal, Arts and History Consultants

and Joanne Parrent. Wellesley College Professor Nancy Hall translated the script into Spanish which is linked to the QR code. At a later date, BWHT hopes to undertake recordings in Spanish.

The Boston Women’s Heritage Trail was founded in 1989 by Boston Public Schools educators Meg Campbell, Charlotte Harris and Diana Lam. It was inspired by the Black Heritage Trail and a question asked by a nine year old girl after a tour of the State House: “Where are the women?” The BWHT serves as both an on line curricular resource for teachers K-12 and a gift to the residents and visitors via 20 walking trails across the city. The trails are self-guided and also available through Boston by Foot and by arrangement with BWHT. BWHT established the first walking trail in the nation to honor women and has inspired similar trails from Salem, Massachusetts to Oslo, Norway.

Talking Statues is a project created in Copenhagen in 2013 by David Peter Fox.  There, in the King’s Garden, the statue of Hans Christian Andersen became the first talking statue in the world. Now, there are Talking Statues in Helsinki, New York, London, San Diego, Chicago, Dublin, Berlin, Manchester, Aberdeen and others.

The project works with mobile technology and is activated through a QR code found on the statue. QR scanners are generally available for free downloads.  When you scan the code, you will receive a call. You can also download the Talking Statues app and then find all the Talking Statues in the world. These statues will call you on your smartphone when you get close.

The October 21st premiere is co-sponsored by Friends of the Public Garden and the Neighborhood Association of Back Bay. In case of rain, the event will be moved to the Boston Public Library at Copley.

For further information contact: Meg Campbell, Co-producer Talking Statues project, Boston Women’s Heritage Trail, Email: mimiinthecity@gmail.com. Cell: 617-970-2637