The newest addition to the Peace Garden at California State University, Fresno – a life-sized statue of 20th century peace advocate and Nobel Prize winner Jane Addams – was unveiled for the campus and the community on Thursday, April 6.

The bronze sculpture depicts Addams lifting aloft a small, immigrant child holding a globe. The sculpture was cast at Arizona Bronze Atelier in Tempe, Ariz. It sits on a gleaming black granite base etched with photos from Addams’ life.

The statue was created by Claudia Nolan, a graduate student in sculpture at Fresno State. The base was prepared by Roy J. Bell, owner of Bell Memorials and Granite Works in Clovis.

The Addams statue will join those of Mahatma Gandhi (installed in 1990), Cesar Chavez (1996) and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1999).

The Addams statue is the first Peace Garden memorial depicting a woman, the first designed and sculpted by a woman and the first produced by a Fresno State student.

Two unveilings of the statue were held. An afternoon ceremony was coordinated by Associated Students. It included remarks by Fresno State President Dr. John D. Welty; Dr. Jeannine Raymond, co-chair of the Woman of Peace Project steering committee; Vianey Nunez, student senator and women’s studies major; and Nolan.

Speaking at the evening program were Welty; Dr. Paul Pribbenow, president of Rockford (Ill.) College, Addams’ alma mater; and Dr. Regina Birchem, international president of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom of which Addams was the first president.

Also on the program was the world premiere performance of “Music for The Peace Garden” by music faculty member Dr. Robert Strizich, performed by the Guitar Quartet of Fresno State. A special movement was written for Jane Addams.

Fresno State theatre arts student Jacque Babb did a dramatic presentation of readings from some of Jane Addams’ writings.

The new statue, like the others in the Peace Garden, was financed through private giving. The largest single donation was $23,000 from the Associated Students. Additional donations are sought and may be sent to Woman of Peace Project, California State University, Fresno, Human Resources, 5150 N. Maple Ave., M/S JA41, Fresno, CA 93740-8026.

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