Chelsea is looking for a sculptor to make a life-size bronze statue of John Ruiz, the Chelsea-born boxer who became the first Latino heavyweight champion of the world. The statue will stand in John Ruiz Park. Artists have until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, November 5, to apply, and the winning artist or team can receive up to $160,000.
The city opened the call for artists on October 9. The money comes from Chelsea’s Community Preservation Act fund, which this year set aside $200,000 for the statue.
“We want public art in our parks and other spaces to make Chelsea’s cultural diversity more visible throughout the city,” City Manager Fidel Maltez said in the city’s announcement. He said it will be the first bronze statue placed in Chelsea in many years.
How the artist will be chosen
The selection runs in two rounds, according to the full call posted on the city’s project website:
- Qualifications. Artists first submit a response to a Request for Qualifications. A selection committee of Chelsea artists, city staff and community members reviews them.
- Finalists. The committee picks three to five finalists. Each receives an equal grant of $2,000 to $3,300 to design a proposal, including a maquette, a small 3D model of the statue.
- Public comment. The models will be shown to the public for comment in January 2027, and Ruiz himself will review them.
- Final pick. The committee recommends one design, with the artist announced in February 2027.
The statue is due to be finished by June 30, 2027, and installed in summer 2027. The $160,000 has to cover design, engineering, a granite or similar pedestal, foundry work, materials, insurance, travel, delivery and a two-year warranty. The city’s Department of Public Works will install it and pay for the installation separately. The project also includes ADA-accessible signs describing Ruiz’s life, career and connection to Chelsea.
Who can apply
The competition is open to artists and teams in the United States who are 18 or older and have experience making figurative sculpture with recognizable likenesses. The city strongly encourages artists who identify as Black, Indigenous or people of color, women, and artists who live or work in Chelsea or whose lived experience resonates with the community. Proposals that invite physical activity or other interaction with the park are welcome, the call says, in keeping with Ruiz’s work encouraging young people through sports.
An optional information session will be held on Zoom on Wednesday, October 21, from noon to 1 p.m. Written questions go to Delia Harrington, the city’s manager of arts, culture and creative economy, at [email protected]. The full call sets a 4 p.m. October 21 deadline for questions, but the city’s announcement gave an earlier date, October 13, so artists may want to send questions soon. The city says answers will be posted to the project website by 4 p.m. on Friday, October 16.
The city’s October 9 announcement listed the application deadline as October 26. The full call, the project website and the city’s own graphics all give November 5.
The call and the submission link are at DiscoverChelseaMA.com/call-for-artists-john-ruiz-statue.
The park and the champion
The statue will go in an open circle of grass with a radius of about 16 feet, ringed with brick paving and four benches, in the small park that already has trees, playground equipment, a seasonal splash pad and tables. A plexiglass cutout of Ruiz, a damaged interpretive sign and a metal frame meant to suggest a boxing ring now stand there. The city proposes removing them and either preserving them elsewhere in Chelsea, such as the library or a school, or giving them to Ruiz.
Ruiz was born in Chelsea on January 4, 1972. He boxed professionally from 1992 to 2010 and won the WBA heavyweight title twice between 2001 and 2005. In 2013 he opened Quietman Sports Gym in Medford, which focuses on giving at-risk children and teenagers an alternative. He was the marshal of Chelsea’s 400th anniversary parade in 2025.
Councillor-at-Large Kelly Garcia, who grew up down the street from Ruiz, remembered neighbors running down Washington Avenue and onto Orange Street to welcome him home after he won the title. “John Ruiz is a huge part of Chelsea’s story, and celebrating him is deeply personal to me,” Garcia said. “It would be an honor to help bring this tribute to the park right next to my home, where families and neighbors can gather and celebrate the pride he brought to our community.”
Image: City of Chelsea.