The statue depicts tennis player Arthur Ashe, who was born and raised in Richmond. That left two, and as Gov. [5], At the time of the statue's construction, Monument Avenue had statues of several Generals of the Confederate States Army, as well as Confederate States Navy Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury and Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Yet over the past month, a possibility shimmered on the Virginia horizon and beyond: As Confederate statue after Confederate statue toppled one way or another and headed for the storage sheds, it seemed, after all this time and tortured history, the six somehow might distill to one: Ashe, the adored tennis star, author and civil rights humanitarian. So I absolutely agree it is powerful he will be the only one standing; however, if change can happen with works, that will be more powerful to me than the monument standing there himself.”. Some view the case as an exhibit for relieving police of the particular duties better suited to mental health professionals. I felt as if Richmond was turning a page in its history and was starting to acknowledge that the Confederate monuments should not be there, but it was not at the point we are now, which is 20-some years later, but was starting to put a marker in the earth, in that we are starting to honor a new generation of people who speak and fight for the truth and support all people.”. The monument of Ashe is one of six on Monument Avenue in Richmond. In the 1990s, a monument was built to honor Arthur Ashe, legendary tennis player, world champion, author, and humanitarian. Don’t let this moment pass you by. The statue depicts tennis player Arthur Ashe, who was born and raised in Richmond. Months into the calm, DiPasquale ushered to the statue the former city councilman Richardson, who had missed the unveiling while jailed for a conviction stemming from his struggle with drugs. [10] The designs were first unveiled, in plaster form, in December 1994 at the Ashe Center. [5] In the following years, Ashe would become the first player selected to the United States Davis Cup team (1981), and was the only black man to win the singles title at the US Open (1968), the Australian Open (1975), and Wimbledon (1975) tennis tournaments. June 17, 2020 A monument to the black tennis legend Arthur Ashe in Richmond, Va., was vandalized with spray paint that read “WLM” and “White Lives Matter” on Wednesday. That would be Arthur Ashe, the first Black man to win the US Open, Wimbledon and the Australian Open, who grew up in Richmond. You walk down that street, people would be opening doors, ‘Boy, what are you doing around here?’ That was off-limits unless you were going to somebody’s house to work. Nine crayon and pencil studies of Ashe were created before his death in 1993. And I think the value of public art is it reflects the thinking of the culture at the time. The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning. A statue of tennis legend Arthur Ashe in Richmond, Virginia was defaced on Wednesday. And while Lee’s plausible exit with the horse he rode in on remains stalled in the tangle of litigation, Ashe figures to stay put, even after some family members expressed trepidation that potential retribution might warrant relocation. The Arthur Ashe Monument is a bronze sculpture by Paul DiPasquale installed along Richmond, Virginia's Monument Avenue. Arthur Ashe Monument. [5] During his childhood, Richmond was segregated, and he was denied entry to tennis tournaments and was not allowed to practice on the city's best courts. The Arthur Ashe monument was dedicated in 1996 to memorialize the Richmond native and counterbalance the string of statues on Memorial Avenue dedicated to … “That is incredible.”, Johnnie Ashe said he hadn’t given any thought to the last-statue-standing concept but said: “I do think, in all this time, it was truly the first instrument of change in Richmond. Arthur Ashe statue is staying put on Monument Avenue in Richmond. Nearly a century after the original monuments were put in place, the Richmond community approved a statue of Arthur Ashe by Paul DiPasquale to be placed on Monument Avenue. “I want him to be known as the intelligent black citizen who paid his taxes, and the people he paid his taxes to killed him.”, He lamented all the layers of government that have left the family further dismayed. Following his death of AIDS-related pneumonia on February 6, 1993, Ashe's body laid in state at Virginia's Executive Mansion, located in Richmond. Arthur Ashe statue is staying put on Monument Avenue in Richmond By Staff and Wire Reports Updated July 11, 2020, 8:57 a.m. The statue became either the first or last depending on your direction, about a third of a mile from the next: Matthew Fontaine Maury, the scientist and Confederate naval officer who contributed much to the country but also advocated repairing the sin of slavery by forcing enslaved human beings off to Brazil. “And then there were, of course, the Confederate sympathizers who said no.” Even the sculptor, Paul DiPasquale, who had discussed the work by telephone with Ashe two weeks before Ashe’s death in February 1993 of complications from AIDS after he contracted HIV from a post-surgery blood transfusion, had thought: “I felt like I knew Monument Avenue was going to be a fight, and I didn’t want to lose, and I thought it would dishonor Arthur Ashe [to lose]. A apartment unit listed for rent at $ 1,695/mo news stories of the 805 N Arthur Ashe is! 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