Explore the Inception and campaign of this artwork, Statue of Mary Anning.
In August 2018, a campaign called "Mary Anning Rocks" was formed by an 11-year-old school girl from Dorset, Evie Swire, supported by her mother Anya Pearson.The campaign, in promoting a monument to a 19th century women scientist, aimed to highlight the bias in the number of UK statues of men rather than women (more than 85% men). Prior to the erection of Mary's statue in May 2022, there were three other statues to a woman in the Southwest of England; the 2019 statue of Nancy Astor in Plymouth, and the 1888 Statue of Queen Victoria in Bristol and the 1902 Statue of Queen Victoria in Weymouth.Plans for launching the crowdfunding part of the campaign in May 2020 were placed on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England, with the Mary Anning Rocks group selling t-shirts instead. In November 2020 the delayed public crowdfunding campaign was launched to raise the money to commission a statue of Mary Anning for her home town of Lyme Regis.Patrons and supporters of the campaign include Professor Alice Roberts, Sir David Attenborough and novelist Tracy Chevalier.
Statue of Queen Victoria Nancy Astor Alice Roberts Southwest of England Bristol David Attenborough Mary Anning Professor Alice Roberts Lyme Regis Weymouth Tracy Chevalier Plymouth COVID-19 pandemic in England Sir David Attenborough