ANNE SULLIVAN & HELEN KELLER
TRAVELING EXHIBIT

Sculpture of Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller

Traveling Inclusion Exhibit launches in Duxbury, MA

Duxbury, MA – Town residents Lewis and Meg Randa are delighted to announce the launching of the Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller Traveling Exhibit in Duxbury during the month of November.  The exhibit features the beautiful, life-size bronze bust of Helen Keller and her teacher and mentor, Anne Sullivan.  The work of art was commissioned to celebrate the unique and transformational relationship children and adults have with their teachers.

This one-of-a-kind sculpture poses two questions on its base which are in text and braille:  What did your teacher help you see that was once invisible? What did your teacher help you hear that was once silent?

All Peace Abbey commissioned works of art are sculpted by internationally renowned artist, Lado Goudjabidze. The Keller/Sullivan sculpture was first unveiled at the Massachusetts State Lions Club Convention in May of 2019.  It was Helen Keller who called on the Lions Club in 1925 to be “Knights of the Blind”. Ever since, the Lions Club has made eye research, prevention of blindness and assistance to the blind central to their mission as a service organization.

The original bust was donated to the Perkins School for the Blind on Helen Keller’s birth anniversary (June 27) and was accepted by Denise Vautrain Fitzgerald, former Duxbury resident and Director of Transition Services at Perkins on behalf the Institute that both Keller and Sullivan attended.

The Keller/Sullivan bronze statue will be displayed at the First Parish UU Church in Duxbury on Sunday, November 3rd with a special homily offered at 10 am by Rev. Catherine Cullen. The sermon is in honor of and inspired by, the relationship these two extraordinary women shared for a half a century.  The statue will also be exhibited at the main Duxbury Post Office (in celebration of the 1980 Postage stamp which features Keller and Sullivan), Duxbury Senior Center as well as the Duxbury Public Library which, on November 14th, will host the unveiling and presentation of the statue and exhibit at 6:30 pm.

This poignant sculpture of “Keller and Sullivan” is the most recent addition to the Public Peace Art Project at The Peace Abbey Foundation.  Since 1988, the Abbey has commissioned and installed both permanent and traveling works of art and memorials throughout the country and in Ireland, England, Japan, and South Korea.

Statues commissioned include those of Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, President Kennedy, Oscar Romero, Robert F. Kennedy, Daniel Berrigan, Barack Obama and his Grandmother, Muhammad Ali, and Samantha Smith.

EXHIBIT MISSION STATEMENT

The Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller Traveling Exhibit seeks to promote a heightened appreciation of the relationship between these two extraordinary women in history.

The exhibit’s primary focus is to showcase the vital role teachers have played in our lives. This is addressed through the two queries in text and braille on the base of the statue:  What did your teacher help you see that was once invisible?   What did your teacher help you hear that was once silent?

Exhibit strives to:

• Inspire further interest in the lives of Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller
• Present information about the extraordinary dynamics between these two individuals
• Elevate the importance of teachers in our lives
• Encourage opportunities to discuss particular teachers in our lives
• Highlight the importance of accepting differences
• Promote tolerance, diversity, and inclusion
• Serve as an extension to school and art center projects and programming
• Place exhibit in a broad range of community locations
• Educate the public about the contributions of other peacemakers whose statues are exhibited as part of the Public Peace Art Program

The goal of the Public Peace Art Program is to present to the general public original, commissioned statues of peacemakers who have inspired visionary thinking and a commitment to peaceful social change.  Both permanent and temporary (traveling) placement of statues is under the care of The Peace Abbey Foundation.

Cost:   Free of charge.  Contributions are welcome.   The Peace Abbey is a nonprofit, tax-exempt, charitable organization founded in 1988.  Those interested in underwriting this exhibit may contact us at admin@peaceabbey.org.