The First Lady of Jazz | |
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Year | 1996 |
Medium | Bronze |
Subject | Ella Fitzgerald |
Location | Yonkers, New York, U.S. |
40°56′6.7″N 73°54′9.2″W / 40.935194°N 73.902556°W |
The First Lady of Jazz is a statue of Ella Fitzgerald situated outside the Yonkers Metro-North station in the city of Yonkers in Westchester County, New York, United States. It was unveiled in October 1996; Fitzgerald had died in June 1996 at the age of 79. [1]
The statue is cast in bronze and stands on a two tier granite pedestal. It is 5 feet 10 in height. [1] The statue is life size and depicts Fitzgerald singing with open arms and "snapping fingers" wearing a dress and heels. [2] It is situated on Trolley Barn Plaza at the corner of Buena Vista Avenue and Main Street in Yonkers. [1]
It was sculpted by Vinnie Bagwell. It was Bagwell's first commissioned piece of public art, and became her ninth completed sculpture. [1] The work was commissioned by the Bureau of Community Development and the Office of Downtown and Waterfront Development of Yonkers and was funded by a Federal grant of $25,000. [1]
Fitzgerald grew up in Yonkers and attended Public School 18 and Benjamin Franklin Junior High School. Her family lived on School Street and Park Hill Avenue. [1]
The statue is part of Westchester County's African-American Heritage Trail. [3]