Just 10 days after its last sculpture unveiling, the Village of Peoria Heights will host another very special dedication at 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 7 outside the Peoria Heights Public Library, 816 E. Glen Ave.
“Shirley Armstrong,” a metal structure depicting a sperm whale that comes in at nearly 28 feet long, 12 feet wide, will be the first representation of famed artist Preston Jackson’s work in Peoria Heights. The sculpture graced Chicago’s Grant Park once upon a time.
“What inspired me to create this large female sperm whale was a person named Shirley Armstrong,” Jackson said in a statement regarding the woman who would become his mother, and who was born at the time of the Springfield, Illinois race riot in 1908 that would ultimately be the catalyst for the creation of the NAACP.
“This resilient woman … is very much in my everyday life, my DNA, my dreams,” Jackson continued. The connection between the name and the whale imagery, meanwhile, resulted from the characteristics they have in common. “They’re strong and sleek objects of beauty with strong maternal instincts.”
Meanwhile, the art is an environmental statement, said its author, with multiple words embedded in the structure – such as “save our planet” – and bottles planted throughout, for those who study it closely.
“The plastic bottles that she has ingested will soon be the reason for her demise,” Jackson said. “This plastic pollution is well known as a silent killer and will someday draw our attention to what we must do as a human species to rid the earth of the pollutants we carelessly manufacture and inject into our food chain.
“This sculpture is about the preservation of the planet.”
For that reason, the Heart of Illinois Sierra Club is sponsoring the work. Speaking at the short ceremony will be Bob Jorgensen, chairman of the Sierra Club, local restaurateur and arts advocate Bruce Brown, Heights Library Director Shawn Edwards, Peoria Park District Director Emily Cahill, Peoria Heights Mayor Michael Phelan, former Peoria City Councilwoman Gale Thetford, and the artist himself, Preston Jackson.
Like the “ROY G BIV” sculpture by the 22VA veterans arts group that was dedicated on May 28, the placement for “Shirley Armstrong” along the Rock Island Greenway was purposedly chosen for its visibility. The popular recreation trail gets 70,000 users – and growing – annually, and Glen Avenue is a main thoroughfare through town with significant drive-by traffic.
“I said this at the last unveiling, but again it holds true: The Village of Peoria is growing in stature as a public art destination. Any creation of Preston Jackson’s is a real coup for us, and we couldn’t be more flattered that he has chosen the Heights to display his work. We’d welcome more of it, along with the visitors it will inevitably draw.
“This is another great day for Peoria Heights.”