Illinois hometown of late film critic Roger Ebert raising money for statue to honour him
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A campaign is underway to place a statue of late film critic Roger Ebert in front of a theatre in central Illinois that hosted his namesake film festival.
Organizers in Champaign are running the Robert Ebert Sculpture fundraiser. They hope to raise $125,000 to build a life-size bronze sculpture of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago Sun-Times film critic in front of the Virginia Theater. The theatre hosts Ebertfest each year. Ebert is from neighbouring Urbana and went to the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.
The statue will show Ebert sitting in movie theatre chairs and giving his signature “thumbs up.” His widow, Chaz Ebert, is working with an artist on the design.
Ebert died in April in Chicago after a long battle with cancer.
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Online: http://www.ebertsculpture.org
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