Commission proposed to maintain Newport statues. But Columbus statue controversy emerges

The debate surrounding the city’s statue of Christopher Columbus was reignited on Wednesday as the City Council grappled with whether to include it as a part of a new commission to fundraise and maintain city-owned sculptures.

“For this particular statue again, it evokes, it means different things,” City Councilor Angela McCalla said. “It may be a celebration for some, but it is a constant reminder of the injustice and poverty that continues to exist.”

Councilor Lynn Underwood Ceglie introduced a resolution to establish a Public Sculpture Commission, a seven-member commission that would oversee the maintenance of 16 public sculptures throughout the city and fundraise for maintenance and repairs with a restricted city account. There is not currently a public entity charged with taking care of these sculptures, but volunteers and groups have raised funds and maintained some of these sculptures themselves, Ceglie said.

Why a Public Sculpture Commission was proposed

The resolution was initially designed as a response to a couple members of the community who were fundraising for repairs to the Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Memorial Fountain on Broadway, across from Equality Park, which has a few parts missing and is in a state of disrepair. Ceglie said the community members were seeking an organization to give the money to for the task, but many nonprofit organizations charge fees for this. Since the city owns these statues, Ceglie said it made more sense for the city to raise the funds and put them into a restricted account dedicated to maintaining these statues.

“I think it’s also easier to raise funds when you’re attached to a city or city commission,” Ceglie said. “I think certain groups are more likely to donate, like doing grants and things like that.”

Other than the Vanderbilt Memorial Fountain, the resolution lists 15 other sculptures under the commission’s jurisdiction, including the statue of Columbus on Memorial Boulevard. This statue was erected in 1953 as a part of a decades-long process which began with a committee in 1932, which wanted to put up a statue of Columbus as a gift from the Italian American community of Newport. The statue was restored in 2003 through an effort led by then-Newport Mayor Richard Sardella.

Controversy surrounding the Columbus statue

Since then, historians and the general public have reckoned with Columbus’ legacy of slavery and cruelty in the Americas and, in the wake of calls to remove statues of Confederate soldiers and generals in the late 2010s and in 2020, some Newport residents have asked for the Columbus statue to be removed as well. A petition to remove the statue garnered 2,694 signatures on Change.org since it was posted in June 2020 and former Mayor Jamie Bova, an Italian American herself, publicly considered asking for the statue to be removed during her time in office.

McCalla had asked the council to remove the Columbus statue from the list of sculptures that would be under the Public Sculpture Commission’s purview and take up its inclusion on a separate vote. Her motion failed 6-1, with McCalla the sole Councilor in favor.

Ceglie said she felt the statue of Columbus should be included as it is owned by the city and many members of the community are proud of it because of their relatives’ work in commissioning the sculpture. Councilor Jeanne Marie Napolitano also said she would like to include it for its significance to Newport’s Italian American community. She said there is “a lot of back and forth” about Columbus’ legacy, but that "there are no perfect leaders," it all happened 500 to 600 years ago, and those who erected the statue may not have been aware of all of the information we currently have on Columbus.

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In response to Ceglie and Napolitano’s comments, McCalla read an excerpt from Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech “The Other America,” which highlights the disparity between the prosperity experienced by some Americans and the poverty and hopelessness experienced by others.

“I don’t want to disrespect the families that came to fundraise, but can we pick another statue that honors the tradition and encompasses the many Italian Americans that have come to America with many different accomplishments,” McCalla said.

What's next?

In the end, the Public Sculpture Commission resolution passed 6-1, with McCalla against. Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong said he hopes the inclusion of the Columbus statue will guide the city to navigate controversy surrounding it. Councilor Mark Aramli said he would be in support of a statue dedicated to Indigenous Americans if McCalla were to bring a resolution forward.

The other 14 sculptures the commission is responsible for are the Oliver Hazard Perry sculpture on Washington Square, the bronze horse trough fountain on Washington Square, the Soldiers and Sailors monument in Congdon Park on Broadway, the Liberty sculpture in Equality Park on Broadway, the Matthew Perry sculpture in Touro Park, the William Channing sculpture in Touro Park, the Stone Tower in Touro Park, the Japanese Stone Temple Lantern in Touro Park, The Wave statue on Memorial Boulevard, the August Belmont statue on Bellevue Avenue, the Major General Comte Jean de Rochambeau statue in King Park, the Memorial to the French Fleet in King Park, The Meeting Room art installation in Queen Anne Square and the World War I Memorial Tower in Miantonomi Park.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Newport Public Sculpture Commission proposed; Columbus statue an issue