Artist Spencer Evans on the Bristol Middle Passage Port Marker Project

I named it Our Ancestors Come with Us because it’s who they are, it’s who they were that allowed us even to be here now.”

Spencer Evans

In the spring of 2023, Spencer Evans took a leisurely walk through the seaside town of Bristol on his way to meet board members of the Bristol Middle Passage Port Marker Project, hoping to learn more about their upcoming project. “It was my first time slowing down and walking through Bristol,” says Evans, a painter, sculptor, and associate professor at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). “I knew after being there – learning its history, and thinking about my own history of being a descendant of enslaved Africans and its connection to the Pokanoket nation – I wanted to submit a proposal.”

That moment became the beginning of a larger artistic and historical undertaking. Evans’ proposal responded to a public call for a monument at Independence Park, a site tied to Bristol’s role in the transatlantic slave trade. The project sought not only to acknowledge that history, but to confront it with clarity and depth. As Bernard Freamon, president of the Bristol Middle Passage Port Marker Project, explains, “We intend to educate the public about the slave trade and Bristol’s role in it, rather than just the fact that it happened.”

After being selected for the project, Evans began brainstorming ways people could engage with the sculpture and its meaning. It took long hours of drawing and sketching to come up with a final design of an African American man, a Pokanoket woman, and a child. “I wanted to depict the figures’ true identity with all the power that allowed them to endure what they did,” explains Evans. “I hope to spark conversations about who these people were, why they are here, and the circumstances they had to endure to have descendants today telling their stories.”

The sculptures, Evans says, “depict someone’s likeness and psyche.” Toni Weeden served as the model wearing traditional Pokanoket garb and wampum, and John DaCruz modeled as an African American man of Akan ancestry. The child figure was created from Evans’ imagination when a young girl came to him in a dream while his wife was pregnant with their daughter.

Using foam, steel, and aluminum, Evans first built an armature, then molded clay on top and sculpted it together to reach the desired likeness. He used imaginary movement to give the piece expression and added patterns, bringing dimension, before shipping the sculpture to Boccaccio Sculpture Services in Canton, MA, to be finished through the lost-wax process, a metal-casting technique.

The sculpture depicts the adult’s bodies facing toward the water with their gaze turned inland toward the child. This placement represents their past and the circumstances they were placed in, while looking toward the future and generations to come. “I named it Our Ancestors Come with Us because it’s who they are, it’s who they were that allowed us even to be here now,” says Evans. “I want the descendants of these people to see ourselves in a light that feels true to us and hold a power that we are not alone.”

The statue was unveiled on August 24, 2025, in Independence Park after careful consideration of height and angle placement. “It’s a testament to what people can do when they come together,” reflects Freamon. “As an artist not originally from Rhode Island, I find it important to find a way to connect with my new home. It is our responsibility to make a connection with the people and history there, and use our gifts to help tell a story.” Learn more about the Bristol Middle Passage Port Marker Project at BristolMiddlePassagePortMarkerProject.org.