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Ford Center for the Fine Arts

Sculpture Honors 50th Anniversary of A.B.L.E.

Fay Stevenson-Smith '64 and her sculpture at Knox College

A sculpture by a Knox College alumna in honor of the 50th anniversary of  Alliance For Black Liberty and Equality (A.B.L.E.) was placed on permanent display during Homecoming 2018.

"Got Your Back," a sculpture by Emeritus Trustee Fay Stevenson-Smith M.D. '64, depicts three independent individuals with their backs to each other, yet leaning toward each other for support.

The sculpture is on display on the third floor of Alumni Hall.


The idea for the sculpture developed at a gathering of A.B.L.E. alumni and members of Knox College's Black Alumni Network (BAN) to brainstorm ideas for ways to commemorate A.B.L.E.'s anniversary.

A.B.L.E. promotes cultural awareness by addressing issues that impact people of African descent and interaction between races.

Stevenson-Smith, who has already created sculptures of former College President Roger Taylor, former Coach and Athletic Director Harley Knosher, and Lincoln-Douglas bookends for Lincoln Douglas Society donors, offered to create a sculpture that communicated the support A.B.L.E. provides for Knox's diverse student body.

She planned on donating a clay sculpture to the College, but Trustees Jan Koran '71, James Potter '63, and Harold Bibb '62 soon stepped forward to financially support the creation of the sculpture in bronze.

"Like all of Fay's artistic work, 'Got Your Back' is evocative and deeply moving," said President Teresa Amott at Homecoming Convocation, when the sculpture was announced to alumni. "It speaks to an important truth about Knox's past, its present, and its future. And we're very thankful to Fay for helping us remember all the work that has gone before us and the work that will continue when we are gone."

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https://www.knox.edu/news/sculpture-honors-50th-anniversary-of-able

Printed on Friday, April 26, 2024