Nearly two years after George Floyd’s death sparked a national outcry, a life-size statue of the former Houston resident is being dedicated in his honor.
Local philanthropist and businesswoman, Dannette Davis, of Kay Davis Associates, has donated a $110,000 statue of Floyd, which is now on display at Tom Bass Regional Park. The piece entitled, “A Conversation with George,” was created by renowned sculptress Adrienne Rison-Isom.
Isom said that it took months of research and learning about Floyd to bring the life-sized bronze statue to life.
“I met with many of Floyd’s family and friends while creating this piece and everyone described him as having a playful, approachable temperament and human nature,” said Isom. “I wanted to represent that by sculpting him with a nonintimidating facial expression and easy-going body language.”
From the beginning, Davis and Isom made it a point to make sure that the Floyd Family Foundation was involved and approved of the sculpture.
“It’s his family and they need to be good with it and support,” said Davis. “If they are good with it, then we know that we have done our job.”
Commissioner Rodney Ellis, whose Precinct 1 includes the Third Ward neighborhood where Floyd grew up, was among the first supporters of the project, along with Houston Councilwoman Carolyn Shabazz. Both city leaders both worked with the Kay Davis In The Community Foundation to choose the perfect location.
“Initially we thought of the Third Ward area until the idea of Tom Bass Park was mentioned. It was really an aha moment for us all. The beauty of Tom Bass, surrounded by the lakes and nature, really captures Floyd’s peaceful demeanor as described by his family and friends,” Davis shared.
The sculpture depicts Floyd seated at an outdoor table welcoming everyone, all races and ethnic backgrounds to have a seat and join him.
Davis hopes that the statue will not only serve as a tribute to Floyd, but will also serve as a public history bookmark, capturing a snapshot of the man whose death became a transformative moment in time for the nation.
Davis believes that the statue will also show Floyd from a unique perspective and foster positive conversations on race.