PEORIA, Ill. — A yearslong effort to honor comedian Richard Pryor with a statue in Peoria is coming to a conclusion and prompting some residents of his hometown to re-examine the comic and his legacy.
Sculptor Preston Jackson will unveil the 9-foot bronze statue Sunday in the city’s Warehouse District.
For nearly nine years, Jackson has dedicated himself to seeing the statue stand in Peoria, the city where the comedian and actor was born and raised. Pryor died in 2005.
Along the way he’s faced challenges coming up with the money.
He’s also had to overcome hesitancy from some in Peoria who objected to honoring an entertainer who abused drugs and was known for foul-mouthed humor.
Jackson, said he came to believe that Pryor’s art overshadowed his personal failings.
“If a human being doesn’t have any comfort and love, they will turn bad, and I began to understand his life,” Jackson told the (Peoria) Journal Star.
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