A BRUSH WITH IMMORTALITY

The University of Bristol has commissioned Britain’s first public sculpture of a Black woman made by a Black woman. It will celebrate the ‘mother of medicine’, Henrietta Lacks, whose cells led to crucial medical advances

The University of Bristol has commissioned local artist Helen Wilson Roe to create a bronze sculpture of Henrietta Lacks, a Black American woman whose human cells were the first living human cells ever to survive and multiply outside the body. The piece will be the first public sculpture of a Black woman made by a Black woman in the UK and will be installed on the university campus later this year.

The commission follows the exhibiting of two of Helen’s portraits of Henrietta Lacks and Cllr Cleo Lake, Bristol’s first Black female Lord Mayor, which have been on display in the Wills Memorial Building since October last year.

Henrietta Lacks was a young mother who died of an unusually aggressive form of cervical cancer at the age of 31. During surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, a sample of cells was taken from the tumour and sent to a laboratory, where they were found to be the first scientifically defined ‘immortal’ human cell line. Henrietta’s cells changed the course of modern medicine, making possible some of the most important medical advances of all time including the development of the polio vaccine, chemotherapy, gene-mapping, IVF and cloning. They became known as HeLa cells and, today, they are used in almost every major hospital and science-based University in the world. Incredibly, Henrietta’s cells were on board the first missions to space in an attempt to see what would happen to human cells in zero gravity. HeLa cells are also currently being used in the University of Bristol’s own Covid-19 research.

Working in collaboration with the Lacks family, it is hoped the unveiling of the sculpture will be accompanied by an exhibition in October of vibrant, compelling portraits by Helen Wilson Roe. The exhibition, ‘A Brush with Immortality’, will feature Henrietta Lacks and her family. A widening participation education project and a Henrietta Lacks Masters Scholarship are also being planned.

The announcement of the commission coincides with a year-long celebration to mark the centenary year since Henrietta’s birth. This year also symbolises 70 years of the use of HeLa cells.

Jeri Lacks, Henrietta Lacks’ granddaughter, said: “This International Women’s Day, my family proudly supports the University of Bristol’s historic commission of artist Helen Wilson Roe to create a sculpture of Henrietta Lacks.

“As the world celebrates Henrietta Lacks’ centennial, my family eagerly anticipates the unveiling of this tribute to Henrietta Lacks the woman - and her phenomenal HeLa cells. It is incredible to see our Hennie rightfully honoured for her worldwide impact.”

Artist Helen Wilson Roe said: “To have the University of Bristol commission me as a Black female Bristolian artist to create a lifesize bronze statue of an iconic Black woman to be placed in the University of Bristol’s grounds, will be history in the making.

“This is the University offering more than lip service or tokenistic gestures, but actually committing to supporting a Black female artist by sustaining my art and recognising Henrietta Lacks.

“As a child growing up in Bristol there were no statues of Black women that I could identify with, so knowing that my children and their grandchildren and great grandchildren will be able to see Henrietta’s statue in Bristol is just fantastic, especially at this time when Bristol is starting to address its past.”

Professor Jeremy Tavaré, Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences, added: “As someone who has benefited from Henrietta’s cells in my own research, I am honoured to be able to announce this commission.

“The unveiling of the sculpture will coincide with an educational plan that will mark the start of the Faculty of Life Sciences working on the decolonisation of our curriculum which will include an acknowledgement of the invaluable contributions Black people have made to science over the years.” ■ • helenwilsonroe.com; bristol.ac.uk

Henrietta Lacks was a devoted mother of five and worked as a tobacco farmer in Virginia, USA. Tragically, Henrietta died of cervical cancer on 4 October 1951. During treatment, a hospital doctor took a piece of Henrietta’s tumour, without obtaining her or her family’s consent. Whereas all previous human cells died within a few days, Henrietta’s cells were unlike any others ever seen: where other cells would die, Henrietta’s cells doubled every 20 to 24 hours. Since then, they have been used extensively in medical research.

While pharmaceutical companies have profited from their use of HeLa cells, the Lacks family have struggled with access to basic healthcare and remained unaware of Henrietta’s contribution for some 20 years after her death. In 2010, Helen met 24 members of the Lacks family and began collaborating with them to make visible the image of a woman who unknowingly had an incredible impact on medical history. Credit: Karen Brett