As several kids cheered and held signs with the Olympic logo upstairs at the Silver Spring Recreation and Aquatic Center on Tuesday afternoon, Dominique Dawes and her family huddled around a piece of artwork covered with black draping.
Hundreds of onlookers watched from the recreation center’s lobby, eager to capture her reaction to a new statue honoring her legacy. With help from her husband and four children, Dawes removed the covering and the room erupted with applause.
The artwork, which was several years in the making, wasn’t an idea that Dawes was initially interested in. When artist Brian Hanlon first approached her with the idea for the sculpture, she rejected it without hesitation. It would be embarrassing, she recalled thinking.
But when it became clear that the project wasn’t just aimed at celebrating her accomplishments, Dawes complied. She recognized that the concept was “really helping plant seeds of inspiration and empowerment for the next generation, so when they walk by this amazing piece of art, they, too, know that they can dream big,” she said.
Dawes, a three-time Olympic medalist and the first Black woman to be on the U.S. gymnastics team, was born in Silver Spring and attended the University of Maryland.
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It’s essential, she said, that when young people walk by the statue, they recognize that they can achieve similar success.
“This statue, yes, is a fun little inspiration and will empower people, but I want you to strive to be the best that you all can be and I want you to remember that,” Dawes told her kids and the others in the crowd.
The bronze statue shows Dawes on a balance beam doing a split. She’s pointing forward, and there are stars and stripes as part of the uniform displayed across her chest. The goal, Hanlon said, was to create a piece of art that both educated and inspired.
The artwork, about three years in the making, “will do that and more moving forward,” Hanlon said.
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich called it a symbol of Dawes’ resilience.
“It’s something that every kid walks into and can say, ‘I can be that. Somebody from Silver Spring, from my neighborhood, was that,’ and anybody else can be that if you work hard enough and have the discipline to do it,” Elrich said.
It’s seemingly already having that effect.
Kalani Wright, who also attended U.Md., said the statue is “gorgeous, and representative of one of her best routines, best competition on the beam here.”
Meanwhile, Cathy Bates, another Maryland resident, admired that Dawes “came back here in Silver Spring. We need more of that.”
Another attendee marveled at the statue because it “shows a Black woman and her strength.”
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