GLT Selling Princess Statues To Raise Funds

Pam Powers stands next to one of the 20 Chinese princess statues that Greenwood Little Theatre is selling to raise money for the organization and create additional public art around town.

Greenwood Little Theatre has settled on a fundraiser with an oriental twist.

It has begun soliciting companies to sponsor 20 reproductions of a porcelain Chinese princess that, once painted, will be featured around the town.

“It’s an opportunity to showcase our local artists and to promote the arts in Greenwood,” said Pam Powers, a Greenwood Realtor who is the past president of GLT.

 The figures, made of heavy-duty resin, are based on the “Porcelain Princess,” which is one of the sculptural reliefs that adorn the famous Porcelain Room of the Royal Place of Aranjuez in Spain. 

A copy of the Porcelain Room was a highlight of the 2001 exhibition “The Majesty of Spain,” which was presented in Jackson by the Mississippi Commission for International Cultural Exchange under the leadership of Minter City native Jack Kyle.

Similar public art projects have been featured in other Mississippi cities, such as sculptures of catfish in Belzoni and swans in Hattiesburg.

The cost to sponsor a princess sculpture is $2,000. Half of that will go toward the purchase of the figure from the cultural exchange commission, and the other half will be used by GLT to continue its improvements at Davis School Auditorium, where its productions are held.

The sponsors will be responsible for having the ivory white sculptures painted. Powers said she was hoping that some of the local artists would donate their services to the project. 

The nearly life-size statues can be placed indoors or outdoors. Any sponsor that does not wish to display the statue, Powers said, could donate it back to GLT for resale.

Powers said GLT is planning to hold an event where all 20 statues, once they are painted, could be showcased together.