| Indiana | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Retta T. Matthews |
| Year | 1893 |
| Type | Sculpture |
| Dimensions | 170.18 cm× 57.15 cm× 57.15 cm(67 in× 22.5 in× 22.5 in) |
| Location | Indiana Statehouse, Indianapolis |
| Owner | Indiana Statehouse |
Indiana is a public artwork by Retta T. Matthews of Arlington, Indiana [1] that was originally displayed in the Indiana State Building at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. The sculpture is currently located on the fourth floor of the Indiana Statehouse in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
Standing approximately five feet ten inches, Indiana stands alone in an alcove on the fourth floor of the Statehouse. The surface of the sculpture is painted in a white, most likely lead-based, paint. However, other alternatives are possible, such as a lime water and vinegar mixture. [2] Another possibility is that, like the buildings of the Columbian Exposition, the statue is covered with a thin layer of plaster, cement, and jute fibers, which create a light but relatively durable surface. [3]
The sculpture stands upright looking toward her right. The hair is wrapped loosely into a bun at the nape of the neck. The figure is dressed in a toga that is banded at the waist and drapes behind the back. The skirt is gathered into her left hand where the figure holds a cluster morning glory flowers. The sandal-clad feet touch at the heels with her toes pointed out. Behind her right foot lies an ear of corn. [4]
As part of the development for the Indiana State Building at the Chicago World's Fair it was decided by the Indiana Board of Managers that a special department of Women's Work be created and managed entirely by female members of the Board. [5] The Committee on Women's Work designated five key goals they wished to achieve. One of which was "To secure a representation of the work of Indiana women in the lines of artistic embroideries, wood-carving, china decorating, drawing, painting, etc." [5]
This interest in Women's Work in the arts and literature led the committee to hold public meetings asking the women of Indiana for their support. The committee raised $2,651.41 to put towards their pursuits. Upon the discovery of three women, Retta Matthews, Frances M. Goodwin and Janet Scudder, natives of Indiana who wished to become professional sculptors, the Women's committee chose a piece of work from each of the women to be exhibited in the Indiana State Building. [5] The three statues chosen were Nymph by Janet Scudder, Education by Frances M. Goodwin, and Indiana by Retta Matthews. [6] Matthews received $800 for her sculpture of Indiana from the Women's Committee. [5] The three statues were featured prominently in the assembly, or main reception room, of the Indiana State Building. [5] [4] Indiana was considered an "ideal figure of Indiana". [5]
After their use in the Indiana State Building, the Board of Managers directed that the statues be given back to the people of Indiana. [5] Janet Scudder was from Terre Haute, Indiana; because of this connection Nymph was placed in the Emeline Fairbanks Memorial Library, where it has since gone missing. [7] Education was given to the Propylaeum in Indianapolis. It, too, is missing. [5] Indiana was placed in the Indiana Statehouse. [5] In 1926 it was located on the third floor of the Statehouse and has since been moved to the fourth floor where it is now situated in a south-facing alcove. [5]
The statue was originally titled Indiana when it was purchased for the Indiana State Building at the World's Columbian Exposition. [8] However, at some point in time the significance and notoriety of the statue diminished, leaving the information desk at the Indiana Statehouse with only a photocopy of two pages from an unknown book published in July 1926 by the Historical Bureau of the Indiana Library and Historical Department, referring to the statue as "Indiana as an agricultural state". [8] This lack of knowledge about the statue has led people to refer to her as Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, because of her Roman-style garb and the symbolism of agriculture and bounty, as projected by the presence of the ear of corn at the statue's feet and the flowers in her hand. [9]
The World's Columbian Exposition was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, held in Jackson Park, was a large water pool representing the voyage Columbus took to the New World. Chicago had won the right to host the fair over several other cities, including New York City, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis. The exposition was an influential social and cultural event and had a profound effect on American architecture, the arts, American industrial optimism, and Chicago's image.
Edward Clark Potter was an American sculptor best known for his equestrian and animal statues. His most famous works are the marble lions, nicknamed Patience and Fortitude, in front of the New York Public Library Main Branch
Lorado Zadok Taft was an American sculptor, writer and educator. His 1903 book, The History of American Sculpture, was the first survey of the subject and stood for decades as the standard reference. He has been credited with helping to advance the status of women as sculptors.
The White Rabbits were a group of women sculptors who worked with Lorado Taft at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893.
Janet Scudder, born Netta Deweze Frazee Scudder, was an American sculptor and painter from Terre Haute, Indiana, who is best known for her memorial sculptures, bas-relief portraiture, and portrait medallions, as well as her garden sculptures and fountains. Her first major commission was the design for the seal of the New York Bar Association around 1896. Scudder's Frog Fountain (1901) led to the series of sculptures and fountains for which she is best known. Later commissions included a Congressional Gold Medal honoring Domício da Gama and a commemorative medal for Indiana's centennial in 1916. Scudder also displayed her work at numerous national and international exhibitions in the United States and in Europe from the late 1890s to the late 1930s. Scudder's autobiography, Modeling My Life, was published in 1925.
May Wright Sewall was an American reformer, who was known for her service to the causes of education, women's rights, and world peace. She was born in Greenfield, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Sewall served as chairman of the National Woman Suffrage Association's executive committee from 1882 to 1890, and was the organization's first recording secretary. She also served as president of the National Council of Women of the United States from 1897 to 1899, and president of the International Council of Women from 1899 to 1904. In addition, she helped organize the General Federation of Women's Clubs, and served as its first vice-president. Sewall was also an organizer of the World's Congress of Representative Women, which was held in conjunction with the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. U.S. President William McKinley appointed her as a U.S. representative of women to the Exposition Universelle (1900) in Paris.
Robert Dale Owen Memorial is a public artwork located at the south entrance of the Indiana Statehouse along Washington Street in Indianapolis, Indiana. The memorial was donated to the state of Indiana and dedicated in 1911 in honor of the Indiana politician, Robert Dale Owen (1807–1877). The bronze portrait bust by Indiana sculptor, Frances M. Goodwin, has been missing from this memorial since 1970. The memorial's remaining pedestal is made from three stone blocks and includes a commemorative plaque.
Indiana state stone is a public sculpture at the Indiana Statehouse in downtown Indianapolis. It is an 85-pound (39 kg) cube of Indiana limestone that is mounted on a wooden, rotating dolly. It was carved from limestone quarried from the P. M. & B. limestone quarry located in southern Indiana. This sculpture commemorates limestone becoming Indiana's official state stone on March 1, 1971.
The Indiana Statehouse Public Art Collection, located in Indianapolis, Indiana, consists of more than 40 public artworks that are on display inside and around the grounds of Indiana Statehouse and the Indiana Government Center North and Indiana Government Center South.
Ellen Rankin Copp, also called Ellen or Helen Houser Rankin, was an American sculptor. Her works were featured at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.
Virginia Claypool Meredith was an American farmer and livestock breeder, a writer and lecturer on the topics of agriculture and home economics, and an active clubwoman and a leader of women's organizations. Dubbed "Queen of American Agriculture" by the citizens of Mississippi in the 1890s, Meredith was also a pioneer in agricultural education. Between 1897 and 1903 she established the home economics programs at the University of Minnesota and served as the program's first professor. From 1921 to 1936 she served as the first woman appointed a Purdue University trustee. Meredith chose an unusual vocation for women of her time, successfully managing the day-to-day operations of her family's Indiana farm from 1882 until 1915. In addition to her agricultural-related work, Meredith was appointed to the Women's Board of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, serving as vice chair of the Women's Board and chair of its awards committee. She was also elected president of the Indiana Union of Literary Clubs, a founder of the Indiana Federation of Women's Clubs, and the first president of the Indiana Home Economics Association, founded in 1913.
Sarah Carmichael Harrell was an American educator, social reformer, and writer. She served two years as superintendent of the department of scientific temperance in the public schools, and was the "first female teacher to receive pay equal with male teachers in southeast Indiana". Harrell was a member of the Indiana Board of World's Fair Managers in connection with the World's Columbian Exposition.
Laura Davis Worley was a dairy farmer.
The Woman's Building was designed and built for the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893. It had exhibition space as well as an assembly room, a library, and a Hall of Honor. The History of the World's Fair states, "It will be a long time before such an aggregation of woman's work, as may now be seen in the Woman's Building, can be gathered from all parts of the world again."
Frances M. Goodwin (1855–1929) was an American sculptor born in Newcastle, Indiana. Goodwin began her studies in Indianapolis, briefly studying at the Indiana Art Association, and then at the Chicago Art Institute where she studied with Lorado Taft and then at the Art Students League under Daniel Chester French.
The Queen Isabella Association was formed to raise funds to provide a statue of Queen Isabella of Spain on the site of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. The group's additional purpose was to advance the cause of women's suffrage and equal rights.
These Are My Jewels is an 1893–1894 monument by Levi Scofield, installed outside the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, United States.
Retta Therese Matthews was an American painter and sculptor.
Mary Blatchley Briggs was an American writer and women's organizer. She served for eleven years as assistant secretary, superintendent, and reporter for the press, and manager of county, state and inter-state fairs. In addition to publishing a volume of poems, she served as secretary of the Western Art Association of Omaha, Nebraska, retiring on January 1, 1891. Briggs was active in organizing woman's work, and also a writer of descriptive matter of the expositions and like areas in which she was interested. Her best known exposition work was for the world's fair at Chicago, where she was one of the two Nebraskans on the board of lady managers and did much toward organizing the Nebraska women for their work for the state and children's building. She managed getting up the representation for her state at New Orleans. Briggs died in 1910.
