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On the first Friday morning of 2025, members of the regional press, local dignitaries and the curious gathered on Johnny Cake Hill, where New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell announced the artist that was selected to design a statue of Herman Melville that would be placed on the lawn alongside the Seamen’s Bethel.
Artist and philosopher Stefanie Rocknak was chosen from a pool of 41 talented creatives who applied to sculpt the author of “Moby Dick,” often referred to as the Great American Novel.
Granted, there are those that may argue that claim, preferring John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath,” or Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” or F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.” But that is neither here nor there. In the Whaling City, Melville rules supreme.
Melville didn’t create New Bedford but he romanticized it and cemented its place in history. The fictional great white whale along with Ahab, Ishmael, Queequeg, Starbuck and the rest of the crew of the Pequod are as much a part of the story of this city as any of the non-fictional citizenry. Melville made it so.
He lived in New York City, Albany and Pittsfield but never resided in New Bedford although he did visit here. But the impact of “Moby Dick” on the city is irrefutable.
At the press conference, Mitchell said “New Bedford owns Melville!”
An aside: At the unveiling of Richard Blake’s statue in Abolition Row Park in 2023, Mitchell flubbed when he said “New Bedford owns Frederick Douglass!” Probably not the best way to refer to a freed slave. Of course, what the Honorable Mayor meant was something like “Douglass is our guy!” Nonetheless, there was a collective wince.
Rocknak was unable to attend the Seamen’s Bethel press conference as she was recovering from a bout with COVID. Instead, she spoke to the gathered audience remotely, but technical issues prevented her from being able to hear the speakers or take any questions.
Her sculpture, titled “Melville and Jonah’s Journey,” is expected to be completed within 12-15 months. It was represented by a photoshopped mockup of a fantastical version of the three-dimensional Melville to be positioned on the grass outside the Bethel.
His left hand is in the pocket of his trousers. He looks toward the sky with a beard as blunt and formidable as a medieval weapon. At first glance, he appears to be rising from a great flowerhead before one recognizes that it is the sea itself. His right hand caresses one of three curved forms and then it kicks in: they are the ribs of the whale.
Rocknak noted that the ribs represent “Melville’s own journey into and out of the whale. Yet, Melville rises above them, his mouth open, as beginning to tell the story of “‘Moby Dick,’ this truth.”
“Melville, like Jonah, was on a journey of transformation. Just as Jonah was cast back to fulfill his divine purpose, Melville returned from his voyages to write “Moby Dick …”
Despite the frequent depictions in art of Jonah and the whale, the Old Testament only refers to the sea creature as a “great fish” or “big fish.” But certainly, Melville was influenced by the tale of Jonah and his redemption, no matter if the beast is mammal or fish. Rocknak is certainly justified in emphasizing the connection.
But is it what locals want to see in a depiction of Melville? Would they prefer to see a more earnest and serious statue, something more resolute and traditional?
It is, of course, difficult to judge a work of sculpture without seeing it in its final form, nor in the environment it will stand, or without the presence of community. Social media commentary on the image ranges from “I love it!” and “Beautiful!” to “No. Sorry not sorry.” and “Fix the fkn STREETS!”
Rocknak’s best known sculpture (so far) is “Poe Returning to Boston,” in which the writer of “Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “Annabel Lee” and most famously, “The Raven,” walks with his back to the Boston Common. An enormous corvine flies in front of him as papers fall from his open suitcase.
Like the Poe work, the Melville will be loaded with metaphysical metaphor and winks and nods to great works of literature. Some viewers will no doubt embrace the seemingly esoteric content while others want things to be straightforward and no-nonsense. Maybe all they want is their literary hero standing there, arms crossed and looking dead serious.
I recently sat down with local sculptor Erik Durant (who had also submitted a proposal for the Melville statue) and he professed an admiration for New Bedford’s atmosphere of acceptance for public sculpture. He noted that with each new addition, the city gives the art “a place to land.”
So where will Melville land in the pantheon of public sculpture?
Let’s go back to 1912. William W. Crapo commissioned the statue-maker Bela Lyon Pratt to sculpt the “New Bedford Memorial,” alternatively titled “The Whaleman Statue” and sometimes (erroneously) called “ A Dead Whale or a Stove Boat.” It is a majestic and significant testament to the long-gone whalers, and by empathic extension to all the hardworking laborers that built the city: scallopers, fishermen, fish house workers, textile cutters and stitchers, tradespeople and factory workers of all kinds.
In 1962, Ana Hyatt Huntington created the similarly named “Memorial to the Whaleman and the Fisherman.” Long located on the waterfront and recently refurbished and awaiting a new location, it is a fanciful tribute to the sea and those that make their livelihood from it. A youthful sea god holds a sturgeon in one hand and a cod in the other, and other denizens of the deep surround him: octopus, lobster, swordfish, sea turtle and more.
In 1978, Colorado-based artist James Surls designed a many-appendaged wooden structure that appeared in front of the Hastings Keith Federal Building. It was long a subject of much ridicule and derision and complaints about wasting federal taxpayer’s dollars. But as time passed, folks began not to mind that giant sea anemone so much, treating it if not with affection than certainly with a begrudging respect.
In 1985, teacher and sculptor Jim Toatley was commissioned to create the “Sculpture of Lewis Temple,” the Black-American inventor of the toggle harpoon tip, which revolutionized the whaling trade. Toatley died in 1986 after creating a maquette of the memorial. His design was mechanically enlarged and cast. It was installed in 1987 in front of the main branch of the New Bedford Free Public Library, becoming a neighbor to Pratt’s “Whaleman Statue.”
In 2016, the aforementioned Durant created a statue of Tom Lopes, the first Cape Verdean ever to be elected as a representative to the Massachusetts Statehouse and the publisher of the Cape Verdean News. It is in Tom Lopes Park at the junction of County and Sixth Streets.
Durant was also the creator of the privately commissioned “The Fisherman’s Tribute Monument” at Tonnessen Park, done the same year.
In 2023, Blake’s statue of Frederick Douglass drew crowds to Abolition Row Park. Melville and Douglass are the 19th century icons with the greatest connections and contributions to New Bedford.
There is Bordalo ll’s brilliant and timely “Plastic Rooster” from this past summer. And Donna Dodson’s stupidly controversial “Seagull Cinderella” seems to reappear in a different form every few years.
Of course, the city parks, squares and cemeteries have many statues honoring fallen veterans, firefighters and more.
The pantheon is expansive. There are mages and goddesses and heroes and tricksters. Most have significant connections to the city’s relationship to the sea.
Where will Rocknak’s bronze rendering of Melville rank? It’s too soon to tell. The work has just begun. Will it be loved? Maybe.
Call me a sentimental old fool — but I think it’s gonna be tough to beat “A Dead Whale or a Stove Boat.” Even if it’s erroneous.
Don Wilkinson has been writing art reviews, artist profiles and cultural commentary on the South Coast for over a decade. He has been published in local newspapers and regional art magazines. He is a graduate of the Swain School of Design and the CVPA at UMass Dartmouth. Email him at dwilkinson@newbedfordlight.org
Nice to read a thorough look into New Bedford’s public sculpture. Bravo to this well written and informative article by Don Wilkinson.
It’s a nice statue. The Poe one is as well.
After city residents received their tax bills this week, maybe the city should look into creating a statue for James Otis Jr. a legendary figure from the revolutionary war who fought against unfair taxation and popularized the phrase “no taxation without representation”.
Bah humbug!
Excellent idea, Jeff, especially since CPA funds are being used to pay a significant portion for this statue and CPA funds come from us property tax payers.
This statue is not being paid for with CPA funds. Grace Ferguson’s January 3rd sticks incorrectly stated CPA funds would be used. It is not an eligible use of the funds.
Editor’s note: Mayor Jon Mitchell said at the design unveiling on Jan. 3 that the statue would be paid for with a combination of public and private funds, including Community Preservation Act funds. The city’s public information officer later confirmed in an email that either the city or Port Society would seek Community Preservation Act funds in the next funding cycle.
I’m sorry, but this is off-topic. Mr Mayor, yes, fix the bloody roads. By the way, the sea anemone can live up to 150 years, so we have a few more years to enjoy this creature.
Finances aside, I feel that this Herman Melville sculpture is innovative, engaging and very creative and will endure the test of time as has Moby Dick.
Stephanie Rocknak is an extremely talented individual whose creations capture both the subject and the observer.
Her selection was perfect for this project.