Alton Announces Plans for Statue of Miles Davis
The city of Alton, Illinois has announced plans to build a statue honoring jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, who was born there in 1926. Alton mayor Tom Hoechst made the announcement at yesterday's Miles Davis Jazz Festival, held at Lewis and Clark Community College in nearby Godfrey, IL.
The life-sized statue of Davis would be placed on Third Street in downtown Alton. Organizations involved in the project include the Alton Museum of History and Art and the Miles Davis Jazz Committee, co-producers of the annual festival honoring Davis; Pride Inc., a local, non-profit organization dedicated to community beautification; and the Alton Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau.
According to this article by the Alton Telegraph's Kathie Bennett, there's no budget yet for the statue nor a timetable for its completion. “The committee has approached one artist and is looking for others to submit sketches before commissioning the piece," the article says. The initial concept for the statue is to mirror Davis' pose in the famous photo (pictured) used in the design of the soon-to-be-released commemorative stamp honoring him.
Possible fund-raising ideas mentioned include “selling bricks and encouraging elementary students to collect pennies." Anyone who wises to make a donation can contact the Alton Museum of History and Art at 618-462-2763.
