Overview

• The City of Philadelphia Public Art Selection Committee chose Vinnie Bagwell’s design from five finalists following a month-long vote that drew over 1,000 public comments.
• Bagwell’s concept portrays Alexander in her University of Pennsylvania law graduation robes with a flower-adorned straw hat and an open U.S. Constitution highlighting the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
• The city has allocated a $700,000 commission plus an 18% design fee to complete the sculpting and installation.
• The statue will rise at Thomas Paine Plaza by the Municipal Services Building, taking the place of the Frank Rizzo monument removed in 2020.
• It will fill a gap in the city's public art by joining statues of Harriet Tubman and Blanche Nixon as only the third monument to a Black woman in Philadelphia.