Nina Simone Monument
Tryon, Polk County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Dr. Nina Simone / 21 February 1933 – 21 April 2003 / Music Icon, Freedom Fighter / & / National Treasure // "It’s an artist’s duty to reflect the times." // Zenos Frudakis, Sculptor / Laran Bronze Studios, 2010
The Story
Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon in 1933, the woman the world came to know as Nina Simone was a classically trained pianist who fused gospel, jazz, blues, and classical traditions into a sound unlike anyone else's. As her fame grew through the mid-twentieth century, she poured that artistry into the civil rights struggle, becoming one of its most fearless musical voices. This bronze monument, sculpted by Zenos Frudakis and cast at Laran Bronze Studios in 2010, stands in the small Blue Ridge foothills town where her story began, its inscription carrying her own conviction that an artist has a duty to reflect the times.
Why it matters
The monument honors a hometown daughter whose music gave the movement for Black freedom some of its most enduring anthems, marking how one artist's voice can shape a nation's conscience.
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Related people
- · Nina Simone
- · Zenos Frudakis
Related events
- · Civil Rights Movement
Themes & tags
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