Mandarin artist making first sculpture of Harriet Beecher Stowe

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A project is underway in Mandarin to create the first-of-its-kind life-size sculptor of Harriet Beecher Stowe, the nineteenth-century author known for her book Uncle Tom’s Cabin, who also spent nearly two decades living in Mandarin and advocating for education across the First Coast.

“It will perpetuate hopefully generations of interest in the area,” Sculptor Brenda Councill said.

For Councill, the clay she’s modeling is more than just a work of art.

“Growing up in Mandarin, I always knew about Harriet Beecher Stowe. And I felt like there needed to be more here something bigger, something that you can engage with,” Councill said.

An abolitionist best known for writing the book ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Stowe spent 17 years living in Mandarin.

“She came here only a few years after the Civil War and she wanted to make a difference in Florida specifically,” Sandy Arpen, the Vice President of the Mandarin Historical Society, said.

An advocate for education, she was key in building Mandarin’s first School for Black and white children.

“These young boys were laboring in the groves. That’s all they knew. Until this magnificent woman came along and started to change things and built the first school,” Councill said.

The sculpture will be cast in bronze and moved to an outdoor garden in Mandarin where people can sit down next to Stowe and learn about her life.

“Her dedication to education and literacy was profound in this area. So that’s what I wanted to translate. In hopefully a bigger-than-life way,” Councill said.

Council along with the Mandarin Historical Society are holding open studio days Friday through Sunday at the Historic Mandarin Store & Post Office until the clay phase of the sculpture is finished.

Turning the sculpture to bronze is a 5-month process, the hope is to have the finished sculpture placed next to the Mandarin Museum in September.