Monumental idea

Madison-raised Isaac Scott sculpts “#Wisconsin” in the image of a Black woman

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How about a statue of a Black woman atop the Wisconsin state Capitol?

It’s more than just an idea. Isaac Scott — who is pursuing a master’s degree in fine arts from Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University in Philadelphia — has already sculpted her. “#Wisconsin” is finished, but needs to be assembled. And she needs a home. 

Scott, a graduate of West High and UW-Madison, has been working on the sculpture with his home state in mind. His ideas about representation in public statuary preceded the current wave of monument toppling that recently claimed the replica of “Forward” and the statue of Union soldier Hans Christian Heg on the Capitol Square.

Scott’s profile has been raised considerably since his stunning black-and-white photographs of protests in Philadelphia appeared in the June 22 issue of The New Yorker. He began focusing on photography after COVID-19 shut down the Temple University art studios.

Scott, whose primary medium is ceramics, was going to unveil the 12-foot-high clay statue at the preeminent ceramics conference hosted by the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA). Before being canceled due to COVID-19, the March gathering was to take place in Richmond, Virginia, home to “Monument Avenue,” where several Confederate leaders are honored with statues. In response, Scott was organizing a group exhibition titled Monumental. “We had nine artists of color who were going to make large-scale works out of clay. We were going to talk about our personal experiences with monuments,” Scott says in a phone interview with Isthmus.

“For that show I wanted to make a sculpture, and the monument that was most prevalent in my life was ‘Wisconsin,' on top of the dome of the Capitol building,” says Scott. “It is something so central to Madison — to Wisconsin, culturally, politically — and it is also in the center of town, on the tallest building in town, so as a metaphor it’s sitting on top of the state, the city. It’s supposed to be an allegorical statue that is a representation of all of Wisconsin. It’s also a statue that I really loved and kind of admired.” 

“Wisconsin” — not to be confused with the replica of Jean Pond Miner's “Forward” that was removed by demonstrators Sunday night — was sculpted by Daniel Chester French, the creator of “Abraham Lincoln” in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. “Wisconsin” was placed on the Capitol dome in 1914. French’s model was Audrey Munson, an actress and model for many public statues, including 20 in New York City alone. 

“She was supposed to be the ideal body,” says Scott of Munson. “Her measurements were really close to the ‘Venus’ painting. She was like this idealized, Western European idea of beauty and perfection.

“The thing that I was most interested in was this white woman who was supposed to be the representation of all of Wisconsin. And how I could play with that,” says Scott, adding that people on the East Coast often express surprise when he says he is from Wisconsin. “It’s like a weird conversation to have, and I was thinking what if there was this Black woman at the top of the Capitol building and she was the representation of everybody who lived in Wisconsin. What would that mean, and what would a more modern take on that statue be? Who would it be speaking to? And if someone was made uncomfortable by it, what would that mean? Because I’ve always been comfortable with this white woman being a representation for me, but what if I was saying ‘All of you are represented by someone who looks like me?’”

For Scott, the ideal representation of Wisconsin is a young, Black woman, his youngest sister, Sophia Fiske. “In a lot of ways, I feel she has all the attributes of what a true Wisconsinite is,” says Scott. “She is very determined and hard working and super positive and kind — all the things that I associate with people from Madison or from Wisconsin. Midwestern kindness, but also with the determination in the morning to go work out, even though it’s 10 degrees outside, because she’s a swimmer — that kind of determination. I wanted to use that as the model for the message I wanted to get across.”

Scott has not been a participant in the protests, but as a photographer he has witnessed the unrest in Philadelphia. He has an understanding of why protesters are targeting monuments, even those that aren’t representing the Confederacy. “Taking down statues right now is symbolic of people trying to address the foundation of this country,” says Scott. “With the ‘Forward’ statue I don’t know the reason people tore it down, but it probably has something to do with why I wanted to make my own version of the ‘Wisconsin’ statue.”

If there are monuments, says Scott, they should represent Black leaders themselves, not just white people who helped them. “There’s a Lincoln statue where he’s towering over a slave that he just freed that’s on their knees…,” says Scott. “We can think Lincoln was this great guy but there’s plenty of African American people who deserve statues that don’t have them yet, but apparently guys who do good things for Black people get these statues and all the accolades.”

The Black Lives Matter movement, says Scott, is focusing on systemic racism, and Black artists need to have their voices heard at this time.

“However people think about people tearing down statues. I think right now people are calling for radical changes and shifts of power, shifts of where money is allocated, and what kinds of communities are taking priority,” says Scott. “Maybe it’s just an opportunity for the city and the state to make room for more diverse voices. Maybe they should just hire some African American artists or artists of color or Native American artists to make their own statues so their voices get to be heard at the Capitol. I think that across the board people are demanding that people make space for more voices, and particularly Black voices right now at this moment.”