For over 30 years, New Paltz-based sculptor Trina Greene has been casting figures in bronze. She typically begins with a sketch and then builds her life-sized figures from clay slabs which she refines into works rich with detail and a living presence.
For her recent work, First Step to Freedom, Greene approached the SUNY New Paltz with the idea and offered to build the artwork at no cost, asking only that the school raise the funds to cover materials and installation. First Step to Freedom is a bronze statue of Isabella Baumfree Vanwagenen (later Sojourner Truth) in 1826 as she was walking to freedom carrying her daughter, Sophia. This was the year in which she escaped enslavement and set off on a heroic journey to advocate for women’s rights and the abolition of slavery. Greene’s sculpture will be on display in an exhibition opening September 28 at City Hall in Kingston.
Not unlike Sojourner Truth’s quest for freedom, Greene’s sculpture has been on a journey towards liberation. Greene began her work in 2020. She presented two drawings to the president of SUNY New Paltz for a ceremony that was canceled just days before the unveiling when the Black and Women’s Studies Departments of SUNY announced that they would not attend as they had not been involved. The statue was subsequently stored in Kingston for three years.
Kitt Potter, director of the Department of Arts and Cultural Affairs in Kingston, began working on releasing the statue last year. Potter helped bring Greene’s sculpture of Isabella to Kingston City Hall.
“I am honored to welcome this great work to City Hall and tell the stories of the young, brave mother Isabella through Trina Greene’s vision,” says Potter. “What I love most about Trina is that she tells the bitter truth of slavery in Ulster County through the arts with no attempt to sugarcoat the horrible reality. This work serves as a tribute to all mothers worldwide who would risk their lives to protect their children.”
Having just celebrated her 88th birthday, Greene reflects on her work. “People can see this beautiful bronze depiction of an enslaved Black woman, now known to the world as a symbol of courage against all odds, and the dark side of Hudson Valley history.”
“Eventually, it is hoped, she will claim the spot that has been prepared for her: in front of the Sojourner Truth Library on the SUNY New Paltz campus. She is a familiar figure, as she will already have gained wide-spread recognition through her travels in the Mid-Hudson Valley,” Greene says.
“There’s a lot to unpeel about Sophia, and we are hoping this new Trina Greene beauty will inspire historians to dig deeper into the archives to find the story,” Potter adds.
A ceremony for the exhibition is planned for September 28 at City Hall in Kingston from 5pm-8pm. From 6pm-8pm, in the council chambers, celebrated actress Aixa Kendrick will portray an elder Sojourner looking back at her former life as Isabella. Other presenters and performers include the Center for Creative Education dancers and drummers, Anne Gordon, Ulster County Poet Laureate Kate Hymes, Maxwell Kofi Donker, SUNY New Paltz Department of Black Studies chair Dr. Weldon McWilliams, Rev. Evelyn Clarke, and the Women’s Drumsong Orchestra.
This article appears in September 2024.
