A broken glass ceiling is now surrounding Fearless Girl to celebrate

An installation is clearly worth a thousand words: State Street Global Advisors just installed a broken glass ceiling surrounding Fearless Girl—the statue that has come to define Wall Street in recent years—to celebrate both her fourth anniversary and International Women’s Day. 

A nearby plaque reads: “Today’s broken glass ceilings are tomorrow’s stepping stones.” Talk about using art to make political statements.

“Despite great progress, this past year we have seen how the pandemic disproportionately affected women who had to leave their jobs to care for their families, as well as the negative impact on racially and ethnically diverse communities,” said State Street Global Advisors President and Chief Executive Officer Cyrus Taraporevala in an official statement presenting the installation. “Today, in celebration of International Women’s Day, we have installed a broken glass ceiling surrounding Fearless Girl as a symbol of the new ground women are breaking every day.”

Originally installed by public park Bowling Green in lower Manhattan back in 2017, Fearless Girl is the work of artist Kristen Visbal as commissioned by State Street Global Advisors. The bronze sculpture was moved away from its first location in 2010, following complaints that it was distracting tourists from the Charging Bull statue that is also found there. 

The outline of Fearless Girl’s footprints is still by the downtown park, though, and folks are encouraged to “stand for her” while in the area. The statue itself has been standing tall and strong in front of the New York Stock Exchange for a few years now.

No matter where our girl stands, one thing’s for sure: women are making strides all around the country and we should celebrate them today and forevermore.

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