We Can Do It!
In 2018, I was lucky to see local Richmond legend Betty Reid Soskin give a tour of the Rosie the Riveter Museum on Harbour Way across from the site for this public art piece. (She was the oldest living park ranger before she retired in 2022, at 101!) Soskin spoke about the importance of remembering the contributions that Black women made to the war effort in Richmond–a history often overlooked.Rosie isn’t just the one woman flexing her muscles (the one we all know from the wartime poster, who says “We Can Do It!”).Hundreds of thousands of Rosies worked across America.My Rosie sculpture aims to acknowledge the We Can Do It poster, but also to uplift the thousands of women who worked during the war and continue to work today in the trades. My hope is that when people see this sculpture they can see themselves in the workers, or see someone in their community or family.To honor the labor of the Rosies, I wanted the figures to be shown in the act of working, with dignity, focus, and pride.