At the center of two crossed metal arches, 32 bronze bells hang 22 feet overhead. One mammoth bell sits near the base. A lever beckons, causing the song “My Country Tis of Thee” to play when it is pulled.

Paul Ramírez Jonas

Let Freedom Ring (2023)

An interactive bell tower where passersby can ring a giant bell to complete an unfinished version of “My Country ’Tis of Thee” and declare their own visions for freedom

As an artist, Paul Ramírez Jonas focuses on ways to inspire civic participation and exchange. Let Freedom Ring features an interactive bell tower that plays the iconic song “My Country ’Tis of Thee,” performed by Marian Anderson on Easter Sunday in 1939 and quoted and rephrased by Dr. Martin Luther King in his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963. The song is played in its entirety except for the final note. Passersby are invited to play the final note on a 600-pound bell and to proclaim for what or whom they ring this bell of freedom.

Location: Smithsonian/National Mall Metro Station–12th Street North (map)

Materials: Steel, bronze, 32 automated bells, participant-activated bell, and patriotic song

Sound Description: To read a description of the sounds of Let Freedom Ring, please click here.

Photos courtesy of Steve Weinik Photography

Photos courtesy of AJ Mitchell Photography

A man smiles at the camera, his lips pressed into a flat smile showing mirth at the corners. He wears large black-rimmed glasses. His short hair curls atop his head in a mix of silver and dark gray. He wears a blue jacket with a red and white shirt.

Paul Ramírez Jonas

Born 1965 in Pomona, California, raised in Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Based in Ithaca, New York
he/him/his

Paul Ramírez Jonas is an artist and educator with particular focus on interdisciplinary and socially engaged art, print media, public art, and sculpture. He has had solo exhibitions at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Museo Jumex, the New Museum, and other venues. His civic projects Key to the City and Public Trust are standard bearers in the field of public art. He is a professor and Art Department chair in Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning.

Credits

Project manager: Nico Rodriguez Melo

Fabrication: B.A. Sunderlin Bellfoundry

Public Program

Bell Giveaway and Song Re-Writing Workshop / Public Program of Paul Ramírez Jonas’ Let Freedom Ring

Saturday, August 19, 2023
Smithsonian Metro Station / National Mall Exit (12th St and Madison Dr NW)

A mini bell giveaway and song re-writing workshop centered around Ramírez Jonas’ interactive bell tower, which invites passersby to ring a monumental bell and offers them the opportunity to explore the freedoms they yearn for.