Association for Public Art

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Association for Public Art (formerly Fairmount Park Art Association)
AbbreviationaPA
Formation1872 [1]
PurposeCommission, preserve, promote, and interpret public art in Philadelphia
Headquarters1528 Walnut Street, Suite 1000, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102, U.S.
Region served
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Website http://www.associationforpublicart.org/

Established in 1872 in Philadelphia, the Association for Public Art (aPA), formerly Fairmount Park Art Association, is the first private, nonprofit public art organization dedicated to integrating public art and urban planning in the United States. [2] The association commissions, preserves, promotes, and interprets public art in Philadelphia, [3] and it has contributed to Philadelphia being maintaining of the nation's largest public art collections. [4]

Contents

The aPA has acquired and commissioned works by many notable sculptors, including Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Alexander Stirling Calder, Daniel Chester French, Frederic Remington, Paul Manship, and Albert Laessle, [5] supported city planning projects, established an outdoor sculpture conservation program, and sponsored numerous publications, exhibitions, and educational programs. [6] The aPA interprets and preserves more than 200 works of art throughout Philadelphia, [7] working with the city's Public Art Office, Fairmount Park, and other organizations and agencies responsible for placing and caring for outdoor sculpture in Philadelphia, [8] and maintains an inventory of all of the city's public art. [9]

History

Hudson Bay Wolves by Edward Kemeys Hudson Wolves Kemeys.JPG
Hudson Bay Wolves by Edward Kemeys

Chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1872, the Fairmount Park Art Association (now the Association for Public Art) was founded by a group of concerned citizens in the late nineteenth century who wanted to beautify Philadelphia's urban landscape with public art to counter the city's encroaching industrialism. The Association initially focused on enhancing Fairmount Park with outdoor sculpture, but the organization's mission expanded in 1906 to include the rest of the city as a whole: to "promote and foster the beautiful in Philadelphia, in its architecture, improvements, and the city plan." [10] Friends Charles H. Howell and Henry K. Fox conceived of the Fairmount Park Art Association, and the organization's first president was Anthony J. Drexel, founder of Drexel University. [5]

The association's first official venture was purchasing Hudson Bay Wolves Quarreling Over the Carcass of a Deer (1872) by Edward Kemeys, [11] and its first major undertaking was commissioning Alexander Milne Calder for an equestrian statue of Major General George Meade in 1873. [12]

Name change

In May 2012, the Fairmount Park Art Association changed its name to the Association for Public Art (aPA). The change was made to more clearly communicate the nature and scope of the organization's work, and to distinguish itself from other local and national public art agencies. [13] The organization's first major project under its new name was Open Air (2012), a world-premiere interactive light installation for the Benjamin Franklin Parkway by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. [14]

Public art

The Spirit of Enterprise (1950-1960) by Jacques Lipchitz Spirit Enterprise 1.JPG
The Spirit of Enterprise (1950–1960) by Jacques Lipchitz

Publications

Awards and recognition

Lion Crushing a Serpent (1832) by Antoine Louis Barye Lion Snake Rittenhs Sq.jpg
Lion Crushing a Serpent (1832) by Antoine Louis Barye

See also

Atmosphere and Environment XII (1970) by Louise Nevelson Atmos n Environ XII.JPG
Atmosphere and Environment XII (1970) by Louise Nevelson
James A. Garfield Monument (1895) by Augustus Saint-Gaudens Garfield bust Fairmount.jpg
James A. Garfield Monument (1895) by Augustus Saint-Gaudens
General Ulysses S. Grant (1897) by Daniel Chester French and Edward C. Potter US Grant French 1.JPG
General Ulysses S. Grant (1897) by Daniel Chester French and Edward C. Potter

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairmount Park</span> United States historic place

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Milne Calder</span> American sculptor (1846–1923)

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<i>Duck Girl</i> (Manship)

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<i>Dickens and Little Nell</i> (Elwell) Sculpture by Francis Edwin Elwell

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<i>Clothespin</i> (Oldenburg) Sculpture by Claes Oldenburg

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<i>Aero Memorial</i> (Manship)

The Aero Memorial is a gilded bronze sculpture by Paul Manship, commissioned by the Association for Public Art. Aero Memorial is located in Philadelphia's Aviator Park, across from The Franklin Institute at 20th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The memorial is a tribute to those aviators who died in World War I, and it was initiated by the Aero Club of Pennsylvania in 1917 with the help of the Fairmount Park Art Association. The Aero Club donated modest funds into the Fairmount Park Art Association in 1917 for the creation of the memorial, and after years of fundraising, the Art Association was finally able to contact Paul Manship for the commission 1939. The idea for a celestial sphere was approved in 1944, and the sculpture was completed in 1948. Aero Memorial was dedicated on June 1, 1950. Aero Memorial is one of 51 sculptures included in the Association for Public Art's Museum Without Walls interpretive audio program for Philadelphia's outdoor sculpture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James A. Garfield Monument (Philadelphia)</span> Sculpture by Augustus Saint-Gaudens

The James A. Garfield Monument is a monument honoring the 20th president of the United States in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens and architect Stanford White collaborated on the memorial, which was completed in 1896. It is located in Fairmount Park, along Kelly Drive, near the Girard Avenue Bridge.

<i>Iroquois</i> (di Suvero)

Iroquois is a sculpture by American artist Mark di Suvero, owned by the Association for Public Art. The artwork is located at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, at Eakins Oval and 24th Street, Philadelphia, United States. Iroquois is one of the many sculptures included in the Association's for Public Art's Museum Without Walls: AUDIO™ interpretive audio program for Philadelphia's outdoor sculpture.

<i>70 Sculptors</i>

70 Sculptors is a photograph taken by Life photographer Herbert Gehr on May 14, 1949.

Playing Angels is a sculpture series along the Schuylkill River and Kelly Drive in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It consists of three boy-shaped angels standing about six feet tall with wings and musical instruments. The bronze pieces are balanced on separate concrete pedestals overlooking the river bank and are about a mile away from Boathouse Row.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General Galusha Pennypacker Memorial</span> Public monument in Philadelphia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial</span> Public memorial in Philadelphia

The Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial is a sculpture garden located in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The garden, located along the left bank of the Schuylkill River between Boathouse Row and the Girard Avenue Bridge, was established by the Fairmount Park Art Association and dedicated in 1961.

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