A Homecoming

RICHARD BLAKE CREATES GREAT BARRINGTON’S W.E.B. DU BOIS MONUMENT

By Scott Edward Anderson

Soon, on any given morning in Great Barrington, sunlight will catch a bronze figure seated on a curved marble bench framing the steps of Mason Library. His posture is dignified yet approachable; his extended hand an invitation to sit beside history. This is W.E.B. Du Bois as envisioned by sculptor Richard Blake, whose own career has been increasingly defined by rendering America’s civil rights pioneers in enduring bronze. 

The installation of Blake’s life-size statue will take place on Saturday, July 19, as part of a weekend that proposes to be an important one for Du Bois scholars and devotees. In addition to the installation, there will be a talk by the sculptor at Chesterwood on Friday and a panel discussion on Sunday. 

For Blake, recipient of the National Sculpture Society’s Medal of Honor in 2023, creating a monument to one of Great Barrington’s most famous sons was an artistic challenge and a profound responsibility. His sculpture does more than commemorate; it reconciles a town with a legacy once overlooked, capturing Du Bois with the “political presence” of an Abraham Lincoln, while honoring his full humanity. 

Du Bois’ family had roots in the area going back generations, and the town was essential to his development as a person, intellectual, and activist. The author and sociologist kept a fondness for Great Barrington, which he once described as “a beautiful place, a little New England town nestled shyly in its valleys.” He buried his first-born son, as well as his first wife, in the Mahaiwe Cemetery, although his own grave is in Accra, Ghana, where he had chosen to live during his later years. He often credited the town with shaping his early intellectual development and perspectives. 

Indeed. The Great Barrington community supported Du Bois’ education after he graduated high school. A group of neighbors raised money for him to attend Fisk University, the historically Black college in Tennessee. He went on to become the first Black Ph.D. from Harvard and studied at what is now Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany. A co-founder of the NAACP and The Crisis magazine, Du Bois was the author of influential books such as The Souls of Black Folk and Black Reconstruction in America. Later, he became an advocate for Pan-Africanism, traveled on that continent, and died in 1963 at the age of 95. 

He kept ties to the town in which he was born and raised, but only in recent years has Great Barrington celebrated his legacy. 

“I grew up in a community where I didn’t even know W.E.B. Du Bois lived,” says poet and artist Delano Burrowes, who served on the selection committee for the Du Bois sculpture. That began to change when Freke Vuijst, a Dutch journalist who resided in the area, conceived of the idea for a public sculpture. She found a few other champions to help her, including Julie Michaels of Housatonic, who is currently board chair of the project. When Vuijst died of cancer in 2020, Michaels continued the project, bringing together a committee of like-minded townspeople, artists, entrepreneurs, and others. 

Ari Zorn, who was born and raised in the area, greeted the project with enthusiasm and joined the board. Zorn saw the sculpture as a opportunity to foster broader understanding—not just of Du Bois and his legacy, but of Black history in the Berkshires. 

Once the project had approval from the town, gallery owner Lauren Clark, together with others on the sculpture selection committee, sent out an request for proposal (RFP) for sculptors. Gwen Pier, executive director of the National Sculpture Society, was among those who helped spread the word to artists around the country. Pier, whose organization helps communities develop a suitable process for public sculptures like this, appreciated the development of this project. “It was more bottom up, coming from the heart of the community,” she says. 

After much deliberation, the selection committee found three sculptors from around 30 respondents, with the final choice settling on Blake, who is based in Kinzers, Pennsylvania. Renowned for his depictions of Black historical figures such as Martin Luther King, Frederick Douglass, and Rosa Parks, he approached the subject from a perspective that fit the committee’s primary desires: “We wanted something people could sit with and engage with,” says Clark. 

Sculptor Richard Blake in his studio working on the W.E.B. Du Bois monument. (Richard Blake)

Blake sees history not as facts and dates, but as human stories. His sculptures reflect his artistic mission: to bring dignity to those who shaped America through courage. He began not with sketches, but with books, immersing himself in Du Bois’ writings, particularly his concept of “the veil,” which separates racial understanding. “He never stopped searching and always saw beneath the surface,” says Blake. 

Blake also came to understand the complexity of Du Bois’ relationship with his hometown. Du Bois was born just after the Civil War in a predominantly white community that, in his time, supported his education but only recently embraced his legacy. This informed Blake’s artistic approach: to portray a man of global stature with deep local roots. 

The decision to depict Du Bois seated, hand extended in welcome, reflects a desire for engagement rather than simply reverence. The sculpture’s placement at the library steps reinforces Du Bois’ scholarly legacy while inviting passersby to pause and reflect. (The bench and surrounding plaza design is the work of Grigori Fateyev of Art Forms Architecture.) 

Blake’s attention to such subtle details avoids caricature. “He was conscious of his presence, an intellectual,” says Blake. “I wanted to give him the same kind of political presence as someone like Lincoln, and to portray him in a way that he would be comfortable seeing himself.” 

This emphasis on Du Bois’ humanity transforms the work from static memorial to living encounter, and Blake’s commitment to dignity manifests in every aspect of the sculpture: the thoughtful expression Blake gives Du Bois; the careful attention to period-appropriate clothing that acknowledges his stature without overstatement; the relaxed yet dignified posture; even the detail of Du Bois’ index finger placed between the pages of a book, as if the sculptor interrupted the scholar in his reading. All convey the complexity of a man who navigated between worlds with remarkable intellect and fortitude. 

It is the gesture of the extended hand, described by Zorn as “super welcoming,” that transforms Du Bois from a distant historical figure into a living presence, fulfilling the committee’s vision of a monument that would not merely commemorate but connect. The extended hand further creates what Michaels envisioned as “a man on the bench reaching out and asking me to join him.” 

This pose, and its placement, directly outside the library's renovated entrance steps, will no doubt pique the curiosity of passersby and Du Bois aficionados alike. One can imagine the many “selfies” or “ussies” that visitors will take sitting next to him on the bench. (Indeed, the committee will likely create a hashtag for just such promotion, along with a QR code where people can learn more about Du Bois.) 

Maquettes of Du Bois were on view prior to a panel of judges, some above, making a final decision, From left, Lauren Clark, Ari Zorn, Reginald Madison, Julie Michaels (board chair), and Bobby Houston. (David Edgecomb)

Blake’s sculpture gives physical form to the complex relationship between intellectual achievement and human experience that characterized Du Bois' life and work. By portraying him as both scholarly and approachable, Blake challenges viewers to consider Du Bois both for his historical significance and his contemporary relevance. The sculpture’s design invites reconnection, initiating a relationship between him and the Great Barrington community. 

“His family was here for multiple generations,” says committee member Dubois Thomas. “He was home here. He came back here. He buried his family members here.” 

As Blake’s sculpture takes its place on the steps of Mason Library this month, it joins a broader effort to recover Du Bois’ legacy that is added to the renaming of the Monument Valley Regional Middle School, the creation of a mural in what is now called “Du Bois Alley” off Railroad Street, the reclaiming of Du Bois’ boyhood home-site on South Egremont Road, and the establishment of the Du Bois Freedom Center in the former Clinton A.M.E. Church. Together, these efforts move Great Barrington from omission to celebration; from silence to conversation. 

In bronze, Du Bois will now extend his hand to a community that now celebrates him. The sculptor has created more than a monument; he has opened a new chapter. “This is the gateway to so many things,” says Zorn, “a testament to how art can bridge history and healing, with one bronze hand reaching across time.” 

The unveiling and dedication ceremony and related events will be held from July 17 to July 20, at various venues in the Berkshires, including Mason Public Library in Great Barrington, Chesterwood in Stockbridge, and Jacob’s Pillow in Becket. For more details on these events, please go to 

webduboissculpture.org.