Carmen entertains in her Wellington coffee bar A lasting memorial outside Te Papa for the late Carmen Rupe and her transsexual sisters of 1960s and 70s Wellington is now a practical possibility but money will now need to be found for the project, according to Tranny Granny Jacqui Grant. The idea of a memorial to Carmen was floated a year ago, when she died in Sydney, and has the support of the Capital's mayor Celia Wade-Brown. Grant says she set up the first stage of such a project by working with Wellington City Council's public art advisers. She says she has prepared a proposal which fits the city's criteria and sounded out a sculptor who is enthusiastic to be involved. "I put in a huge proposal to the arts committee and finally got it approved, now we just need the money," she says. The project, including the sculpting, installation and resource consenting is likely to cost around $70,000. "Although the sculpture would be of Carmen I see it as acknowledging all those girls who were such a big part of the Wellington night scene," Grant says. "That's why I think it should be in a prominent and permanent position outside Te Papa. Although we hung out in the Cuba and Vivian Streets area that's all gone now and anything could happen there in the future. By locating it outside Te Papa it would be a permanent reminder of a time and a place and the people who made it happen." Grant says she would support anyone who came forward with the energy and drive to professionally assemble the funds needed for the sculpture. You can discuss this New Zealand gay community news story in the GayNZ.com Forum.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 15th December 2012 - 4:47pm