'Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive': Johnny Mercer statue to return to Ellis Square

Polly Powers Stramm
·3 min read

After being away from Ellis Square for most of 2023, the sculpture of Oscar winning lyricist and Savannah native Johnny Mercer will be making an encore in the square later this month.

Having the bronze Mercer statue returned to the square is good news for tourists and Savannah residents who likely have missed seeing it for months. Earlier this year the statue was knocked over by vandals, damaged, and removed for repairs.

Perhaps no one could be happier than local sculptor Susie Chisholm who created the Mercer likeness. She, along with members of the Friends of Johnny Mercer Inc., who spearheaded the effort to have a statue created, have been invited to see the statue reinstalled at 8 a.m., Oct. 24, according to Christina Orr, special projects coordinator for the City of Savannah’s Park & Tree Department.

The life-sized Mercer likeness was unveiled in November 2009 on what would have been the Savannah native’s 100th birthday.

Chisholm can breathe a sigh of relief now that the statue has returned.

“I’m very happy that Johnny is back,” she said. “He’s such a tourist attraction and he’s been gone all summer.” She said the statue has a new patina and has been “beefed up” to ensure that it won’t be damaged again. Sometime in the future a QR (short for quick response) code may be placed near the statue so interested parties can scan it with their smartphones to hear about Mercer and listen to some of the songs he wrote, she said.

Where's Johnny Mercer? Beloved Ellis Square statue not gone, but may not return soon

The Johnny Mercer statue that graces Ellis Square has been removed since March as repairs have been made to the beloved Savannah musician's tribute by Susie Chisholm.
The Johnny Mercer statue that graces Ellis Square has been removed since March as repairs have been made to the beloved Savannah musician's tribute by Susie Chisholm.

The statue was removed earlier this year after it was knocked over by vandals – an incident that was caught on camera, Chisholm added. To begin with, the sculpture was loose at the base and the vandals began rocking it until it toppled over. No one has been arrested in the case.

The statue was transported to the Inferno Art Foundry in Union City, near Atlanta, and quickly repaired, Chisholm said. It was returned to Savannah soon after and was stored in a city warehouse for months. It will be installed in its former location on the western side of Ellis near Barnard and Congress streets.

Chisholm modeled the Mercer likeness after a photograph of the lyricist taken in the 1930s at Columbus Circle in New York City, according to her website. (A copy of the photo was loaned to her by the Friends of Johnny Mercer.)

“He was looking down, but we decided to have him looking up so he could greet visitors with a smile as they approached him. He always had a smile and a welcoming personality, so we wanted the sculpture to convey this image of him.” The bronze plate on the ground beside the statue says Mercer wrote the words to nearly 1,400 songs, with the most famous being “Moon River.”

He was the co-founder of Capitol Records, Inc. and founding president of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He also was nominated for 18 Academy Awards for Best Song, winning four. He died in 1976 and is buried in Bonaventure Cemetery.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Johnny Mercer statue to return to Savannah's Ellis Square