The Lorraine Hansberry Initiative's Lorraine Hansberry statue, which has been on a nationwide tour since 2022, has found a permanent home in Chicago's Navy Pier. The move will mean the statue is in the Raisin in the Sun playwright's hometown.
The statue, sculpted by Alison Saar, is titled To Sit A While, and depicts Hansberry surrounded by five bronze chairs representing different aspects of her life and work. Visitors are invited to sit in the chairs and think along with Hansberry.
“Navy Pier is thrilled to have been selected as the permanent home for To Sit A While,” says Navy Pier Vice President of Arts, Culture, and Engagement Erika Taylor in a statement. “We are honored to share the life and legacy of Lorraine Hansberry with over eight million guests a year. Our mission as the People's Pier is to offer moments of discovery and wonder, and this sculpture creates a literal and metaphorical space to reflect within the beauty of Polk Bros Park.”
The statue will be dedicated at a special ceremony August 23 at 5:45 PM, free and open to the public. Lynn Nottage, Julia Jordan, Saar, and Taylor will be on hand to give remarks, and writer-playwright-poet Mahogany L. Browne will offer performances curated by Congo Square Theatre. Following the ceremony, the evening will conclude with an outdoor screening of the 1961 film version of A Raisin in the Sun.
The statue's cross-country journey saw visits to sites in New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, along with several historically Black colleges and universities. The Lorraine Hansberry Initiative is a project of The Lillys, an advocacy organization that works to promote gender and racial parity in American theatre.
More details on the August 23 dedication ceremony can be found at LorraineHansberryInitiative.org.
Lorraine Hansberry Statue
Taye Hansberry and Alison Saar
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Lynn Nottage, Charles Randolph-Wright, and LaChanze
Lynn Nottage and Christina Anderson
Lorraine Hansberry Statue
Julia Jordan
Lucy Moss, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Jeanine Tesori, Antoinette Nwandu, Christina Anderson, Masi Asare, and Lynn Nottage
LaChanze
LaChanze
Hansberry family and guests
LaChanze
LaChanze
LaChanze
Taye Hansberry
Taye Hansberry
Taye Hansberry
Taye Hansberry
Taye Hansberry
Alison Saar
Lynn Nottage
Lucy Moss and Antoinette Nwandu
