The city of Newark has erected a statue in honor of Eric "Uggie" Bowens, a popular Newark resident and street dancer, who was murdered in 2016. The statue is also part of Newark's movement to enrich the lives of residents by placing art in its neighborhoods.
The abstract statue, is of a black figure, wiry and tall, made from sheet metal that is flexible and has movement, much like the subject of the piece.
Eric "Uggie" Bowens was always on the move. He walked everywhere in Newark, stopping only to dance, the one thing that made everyone in the city know him. He loved to dance, and was often seen with a boom box in his hand blasting House music.
Then he was taken from us last year on Nov. 7, when he was shot and killed, gunned down 45 minutes before his 45th birthday. Newark was angry and hurt.
Thousands attended his funeral. Uggie -- we all knew him by this name -- had a developmental disability. He was a harmless soul who didn't bother anyone. From the streets to Newark City Hall, people loved this guy, who may have been the city's most recognizable resident.
The Essex County Sheriff's Department offered a $20,000 reward, which was increased to $30,000 last week. A street sign was erected in May with his name on Winans Avenue, but the city has gone a step further by installing the metal sculpture to honor him again, and to continue its vision of displaying public art in neighborhoods.
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"The mayor wanted to utilize arts and culture to represent something that Uggie was and have that be connected to the spirit of what we have going on in the city,'' said Keith Hamilton, Newark's manager of city-owned property, who works with artists on public art projects.
For the nearly 10-feet-high piece, Newark tapped Jerry Gant, a renowned local artist, who has murals in every ward and sculptures throughout the city.
Gant said Uggie's artwork, at the corner of Muhammad Ali Avenue and Bergen Street, is crafted from Corten metal and painted with a black powder coating. Its unique flexible feature, Gant said, was intentional because Uggie was a dancer. It's not rigid like other statues often seen in downtown parks.
"I wanted it to have some flexibility, so when the wind hits it, it has some movement,'' said Gant. "I wanted it to be accessible so people could come up to it and take pictures. I want people to touch it."
The statue sits on a concrete island at the Central Ward intersection, where Uggie's mother, the late Lula Bowens, used to sit in a chair and sell Katydids, tasty chocolate-covered caramel candy packaged in a tin container.
Bowens and her son lived across the street in a townhouse complex that is now closed. Uggie would sit with his mother, then take off walking, sometimes getting lost until someone in Newark would see him and give him a ride home.
Stanley McElroy did, after Uggie would come by to visit. He was Uggie's self-appointed big brother, who looked after him growing up and into his adult life, as did others in Newark.
"There couldn't have been a better angel to have come across my path,'' McElroy said. "It's still rough on me when I go thinking about him when I'm by myself in the truck. I can't believe it's been a whole year.''
Uggie was found with a gunshot wound on the ground in front of an empty house on Bergen Street near Fourteenth Avenue. Despite the initial $20,000 reward, his killer has not been found. The investigation by the Essex County Prosecutors Office continues, and authorities hope that the increase in reward money will entice people to come forward with information.
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"It's a sad, sad thing,'' said Sheriff Armando Fontoura. "Somebody out there knows something. Thirty thousand is not a problem. But it's not enough for a life that meant a lot to folks in this community.''
A few weeks before the reward was announced, members of the Newark Anti-Violence Coalition stood in the cold, in front of the statue, calling for an increased reward as they paid tribute to Uggie while demanding justice for innocent victims like him.
"We are dealing with so many unsolved murders. We need to send a message that this can't be business as usual,'' said NAVC chair LaKeesha Eure. "After things happen, we have to keep the momentum.''
NAVC does so every week with rallies in tough Newark neighborhoods. If it weren't for them, many of the victims would be forgotten.
Not Uggie. People still talk about him, stunned that the streets have not coughed up the killer.
The statue in his memory can't be missed. It's been up for three weeks now. Newark is finishing a placard with his name and an inscription that suits Uggie to a T.
Dance as though no one is watching.
Love as though you have never been hurt before.
Sing as though no one can hear you.
Live as though heaven is on earth.
And with each rush of the wind, Uggie, or at least this figure of him, will fleetingly move among us once again.
Barry Carter: (973) 836-4925 or bcarter@starledger.com or
nj.com/carter or follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL
