Brooklyn resident Dr. Lorenzo Pace, educator, artist, author, will be celebrated on October 24 at the 20th Anniversary of the installation of the “Triumph of the Human Spirit” monument located in Thomas Paine Park at Foley Square, New York City.
Pace’s historic 50-foot granite installation, symbolizing freedom and endurance, honors the estimated 20,000 enslaved men, women and children interred in the African Burial Ground graveyard around and beneath the City Hall area. Mr. Pace’s work was influenced by the female antelope “Chi Wara” carved headdresses of the Bamana people of Mali, West Africa, and is set within an elongated boat-like structure symbolizing canoes used by native Americans, as well as the “middle passage” ships with enslaved Africans.
Surrounding ‘Triumph of the Human Spirit” is The African Burial Ground and Black Lives Matter Way (formerly Centre Street), Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse and The David N. Dinkins Municipal Building.
Dr. Pace, born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1943, moved with his family to Chicago where he earned his BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and his PhD from Illinois State University. A renowned installation artist/sculptor, he has exhibited around the world and authored five historic children’s books, most notably “Jalani and the Lock”, a bestseller he wrote in answer to his young daughter who asked “Daddy, where do we come from”.
Pace, as a child, was inspired by actual stories he heard about his ancestors, most notably the story of a lock given to him at his father’s funeral. Pace learned that it was the actual lock used to shackle his great-great-grandfather, Steve Pace, when he came to this country as a slave. Dr. Pace maintains his studio in Brooklyn, New York.
Honorable Gale A. Brewer will present a proclamation to Dr. Pace.
(Note to readers: In accordance with COVID-19 guidelines, we are limited to 50 guests; please RSVP by or before October 20, 2020 via email (fulcherelizabeth@hotmail.com). In the event you are unable to join us, please consider sending us a letter of greeting to share with our guests.)