When Los Angeles-based artist Alison Saar was commissioned a little over four years ago to create a statue of playwright Lorraine Hansberry, she had only one thought: “Am I the right person for the job?”
“I don’t really work with likenesses,” says Saar, 66, whose artwork focuses on the African diaspora and black female identity. “But they said, ‘No, no, we want it to be more of a portrait of her passion and who she was, more than a playwright.'”
The request came from Lynn Nottage, the two-time Pulitzer-winning playwright, as part of an initiative she was developing with Julia Jordan, the executive director of the Lilly Awards, which recognizes the work of women in theater. The Lorraine Hansberry Initiative was designed in honor of Hansberry, who was the first black woman to produce a Broadway show.
“She’s just part of my fundamental DNA as an artist,” Nottage said in a phone interview on Wednesday. “Throughout my career, if I was looking for structure, storytelling or inspiration, I could go to ‘A Raisin in the Sun’, this perfect piece of literature.”
The statue, a life-size likeness of Hansberry, surrounded by five movable bronze chairs that represent aspects of her life, and, Saar said, invites people “to sit and think with her,” will be unveiled in Times Square on June 9. revealed. event features performances and comments from Nottage and Hansberry’s 99 year old older sister, Mamie Hansberry. It will remain in Times Square through June 12, before embarking on a tour of the country for the next year en route to its permanent home in Chicago, Hansberry’s hometown.
But, Nottage said, they also wanted a more forward-looking way to honor Hansberry, leading to the initiative’s second pillar: a scholarship to cover living expenses for two female or non-binary graduate student writers of color who create creations. for stage, television or film. Starting next year, the $2.5 million scholarship fund will give its first recipients $25,000 per year, generally for up to three years — the typical length of a graduate program. (LaTanya Richardson Jackson, who was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance as Lena Younger in the 2014 Broadway revival of “Raisin,” the Dramatists Guild and the National Endowment for the Arts are among the first to donate.)
“So many writer’s graduate programs at elite institutions like Juilliard, Yale and Brown now offer free tuition,” Nottage said, “but you don’t see people taking a seat because they can’t afford to take three years off to pay the rent.” , computers, food and travel, which can average between $15,000 and $35,000 per year.”
“It would have made a huge difference to me,” Nottage said of the scholarship fund. “When I was in Yale School of Drama, one of the actors told me I could get public assistance to pay for groceries and electricity, and when I showed the welfare department in New Haven my financial aid package – I was doing work study – they were like, ‘Oh, yes, you live below the poverty line.’”
Hansberry, who was just 34 when she died of pancreatic cancer in 1965, is best known for “Raisin,” a semi-autobiographical family drama that tells the story of an African-American family living racially segregated on the south side of Chicago. The play, which opened on Broadway in 1959 with Sidney Poitier in the cast, would go on to win the New York Drama Critics’ Circle award for best play, making Hansberry the youngest American and the first black recipient of the award at age 29. became.
Hansberry was also active in political and social movements, including the fight for civil rights, and regularly wrote articles on racial, economic and gender inequality for the black newspaper Freedom. She also wrote letters signed “LHN” or “LN” — for Lorraine Hansberry Nemiroff (her husband’s last name) — to The Ladder, a monthly national lesbian publication. In those letters, she struggled with issues she faced as a lesbian in a heterosexual marriage and with the pressure on some lesbians to adhere to a more feminine dress code.
Her older sister, Mamie, remembers that Lorraine was a bookmark from an early age. Their parents allowed them to sit outside on the porch during visits from prominent figures such as the poet Langston Hughes and Paul Robeson, the singer, actor and activist. “Dad wanted us to be able to listen to some of the leading people who came to the house,” she said.
Lorraine Hansberry wrote letters to congressmen: “My mom would find them if she was cleaning her room,” Mamie Hansberry said. “She was free to write to anyone,” Mamie said, “and they would answer!”
It’s that spirit that Nottage and Jordan said they hope to cultivate in the next generation of playwrights. The tour of the statue begins with stops at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem (June 13-18) and Brooklyn Bridge Park (June 23-29) before traveling to cities such as Atlanta, Detroit and Los Angeles. It is also set to stop at historically black colleges and universities, including Spelman College in Atlanta and Howard University in Washington.
Jordan said the initiative will also partner with local theaters and artists to showcase Hansberry’s work, as well as the work of contemporary writers of color, in conjunction with the sculpture’s placement. New 42, the nonprofit behind the New Victory Theater, has also created an information guide to help middle and high school students learn about Hansberry and “Raisin,” which will be free to schools and organizations.
“I think if Hansberry had continued to write and develop as an activist, one of the things she would have done was amplify the voices of other women of color,” Nottage said.
Jordan said she and Nottage had already raised $2.2 million of their $3.5 million goal for the construction costs of the statue, tour and scholarship fund. By 2025, Jordan said, they expect to support a total of six playwrights a year.
“Everyone wants to produce these women,” Nottage said. “But we want to make sure people are prepared — that they’re safe in their voices and safe in their craft — so they don’t fail when given the opportunity.”
