A memorial to commemorate Harlem Renaissance writer, folklorist, and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston. Zora Neale Hurston Memorial The Stately Beautiful Remembrance of a Special Life Created by Gifted Artist James Liccione

The following is about the Zora Neale Hurston Memorial by James Liccione

“I wanted to do something soulful, enchanting, and inviting - a visual        

poetic memorial to this special life. I didn’t want to just do just a

statue sculpture sitting there at the gravesite. I wanted to do

something that would tell a story of her life.  I modeled several

likenesses of Zora in different times of her life. In all of the Zora

likenesses, I depicted her smiling and I wanted to capture the twinkle

in her eye, her knowing look, and soulful eyes.

The best way for me to tell the story of Zora is with bas-relief

sculptures on panels that would be set onto columns.  The bas-relief

sculptures are made of terra cotta clay and fired, which is an

excellent outdoor material that has been used for centuries. The

pieces are liquid copper coated and patinated, which is an

oxidizer that will give a warm aged look to the pieces.  The liquid

copper is in fact an outdoor paint with copper filings immersed in the

paint. 

Zora loved roses and flamboyant hats, so I have embellished some of

the panels with roses and embellished some of the panels with her

flamboyant hats – (I hope the younger kids will get a kick out of the

hats.) Books and literature were a big part of her life, so to show

this I modeled several books, the books look well worn and well

used. A couple of the panels are depictions of her quotes including,

“Jump at the Sun,” with one of the panels depicting a young girl

jumping at the sun. 

I hope people who visit the gravesite will walk away with a warm

feeling and enjoy the sculptures for what they are and the story that

they tell of a great woman.”                James Liccione

LICCIONE

This has been the story of a special birth of the Zora Neale Hurston Memorial by the renowned artist James Liccione.