public art
Image credit: Author Photo
In the 1870s, the Sells brothers, Lewis, Ephraim, Allen, and Peter, became involved in the circus business. As their circus grew, they moved their business to an ethnically diverse, semi-rural community on Columbus’ northwest fringe, now called Victorian Village. Beside the main staircase of the Columbus Metropolitan Library main building, the city unfolds like a memory map in Amina Robinson’s mural. Life in Sellsville 1871–1900 (1992) (above) depicts students from the Polkadot School riding a stagecoach to see a woman pirouette on top of a trotting horse.
Adjacent to the library, the 7-acre topiary garden park offers unique recreations of scenes immortalized in Georges Seurat’s paintings. Sunday afternoon on the island of La Grande Jatte. Columbus sculptor James T. Mason started making topiary sculptures in his backyard before his vision became grander and he moved to a park. So workers first had to shape artificial hills and excavate ponds to imitate the Seine. Then the mason made bronze frames of 54 people, 8 boats, 3 dogs, 1 monkey, and 1 cat, all covered in greenery. It’s a quirky and fun place, with a bronze plaque marking the painting’s original perspective. From there, admire the artwork, then enter Sula and walk among the topiary picnickers and sunbathers.
It’s hard to imagine a more spectacular backdrop than Ohio Stadium. It’s hard to imagine an athlete more deserving of a bronze statuette to honor his accomplishments than Jesse Owens. Owens achieved GOAT status at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where he won four track and field gold medals, but before that, in 1935, the “Buckeye Bullet” earned him three gold medals in track and field. set a world record and tied his other world record with his sub-hour run in Ohio. state. Published in 1984 by Atlanta-based artist Curtis Patterson. celebration of champions, is made up of triangular pieces creating a pyramid shape representing Owens’ record. The abstract grid represents his journey towards victory and the obstacles he encountered along the way.
People with lanyard IDs buzz around the Greater Columbus Convention Center. When convention attendees step out into the North Atrium to call the office, they are greeted by Matthew Mohr staff. us as we are (2017). Viewed from the front, you’ll see his 14-foot 3D digital head made of curved ribbons equipped with 850,000 ultra-bright LED screens. There is a photo booth at the base of the neck in the back. As you enter this, 29 cameras simultaneously capture photos and stitch them together using a technique known as photogrammetry. In less than 2 minutes, your smile will become a work of art. Between the sitter, the sculpture transitions into a previously taken portrait. Each portrait is approximately 17 times larger than a human.
If you search for “Brutalist architecture,” you’ll likely find a photo of the Bricker Federal Building. Constructed of gray concrete, this majestic building is characterized by its raw, unpretentious beauty. Still, I was very pleased to see the vibrant Robert Mangold artwork on its fortress-like façade. Correlation: Two white diagonals and two arcs of radius 16 feet. (1977–1978), whose bright oranges and reds somehow blend in with the building.
Melvin Edwards’ Overcoming past hardships and moving towards a bright future (1982) is a large abstract metal structure made of flat metal pieces and oversized stylized chain links arranged in an arch. While it reflects a history of racial violence and civil rights struggles, it exudes a sense of optimism that symbolizes hope for a brighter future. The title seems to resonate with the sentiment expressed in the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also known as the Black National Anthem. This is a special location as it marks Edwards’ first major public art commission.
As a teenager, Elijah Pierce traveled across the country on freight trains. He eventually settled in Columbus, where he opened a barber shop. In the late 1920s, he carved a small elephant as a gift for his wife, but he was soon overtaken by the job. Pierce became a prolific self-taught woodcarver known for his masterful depictions of Biblical scenes, popular culture, and sports figures. The city has honored him with many honors. A 10-foot tall statue of Elijah his stands just a few blocks from Pierce Street.
Honorable mention: Janet Eshelman sculpture the current (2023) consists of 78 miles of twine tied at 500,000 knots, floating above a downtown intersection (at Gay Street and High Street). It turns out that there are almost no people at night, and you can walk under it. that. The piece is illuminated at night, highlighting threads of red, blue, pink, and purple, mimicking the gentle swells of a jellyfish.
Finally, if you have time, you can head about 20 minutes northwest to Dublin, Ohio to see Todd Slaughter’s work. Watch House and Circle Mound (1999) and Jeppe Hein. modified social bench (2008).