La Grande Vitesse

Last updated
La Grande Vitesse
LaGrandeVitesse1969.jpg
Artist Alexander Calder
Year1969 (1969)
TypePainted steel
Dimensions13 m× 9.1 m× 16 m(43 ft× 30 ft× 54 ft)
Location Vandenberg Plaza, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Coordinates 42°58′10″N85°40′15″W / 42.96937°N 85.67075°W / 42.96937; -85.67075

La Grande Vitesse, a public sculpture by American artist Alexander Calder, is located on the large concrete plaza surrounding City Hall and the Kent County Building in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. Popularly referred to as simply "the Calder", since its installation in 1969 it has come to be a symbol of Grand Rapids, and an abstraction of it is included in the city's official logo. [1]

Contents

History

The sculpture was the first public art work funded by the Art in Public Places program of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Fabricated in Tours, France and assembled on the plaza, the steel sculpture is 43 feet tall, 54 feet long, and 30 feet wide, and weighs 42 tons. It is painted in Calder's signature bright red. The title is French for “the great swiftness”, [2] which can also be translated as "grand rapids".

Calder's design for La Grande Vitesse was consistent with other monumental sculptures he was commissioned to create during this period in his career. He dubbed these works "stabiles", in contrast to his mobiles. The sculpture is a popular gathering place for residents and tourists alike, and it is the centerpiece of the city's annual Festival of the Arts, first held a year after its installation.

A panel of local officials and nationally recognized art experts selected Calder for the commission in 1967. After Calder was chosen and residents learned of his plans, a controversy ensued. Opponents wrote letters to the editor and created songs and cartoons deriding the sculpture, and advocates used the mayor's bully pulpit and public service television to call attention to Calder's credentials and vision. La Grande Vitesse was formally dedicated on June 14, 1969, and has since become a popular civic symbol.

Construction

Alexander Calder's La Grande Vitesse Alexander Calders "La Grande Vitesse".jpg
Alexander Calder's La Grande Vitesse

After receiving the architectural plans and specified materials for the development of the site, [3] Calder completed an 8-foot maquette in 1968, and began fabrication at the Biémont foundry in Tours, France later that year. The work was shipped in 27 pieces, packed in wooden crates and assembled on-site over five days. According to project advocate Nancy Mulnix Tweddale, "It was all laid out like a jigsaw puzzle. It was fascinating for people to watch this big object grow before their very eyes. The sparks flew as the welders worked and then the vivid color was painted on. It was like outdoor theater." [4]

The $128,000 cost of commissioning, fabricating, shipping, and installing the sculpture (equivalent to $900,000in 2020) was shared by the NEA, local philanthropic foundations, area businesses, and individual citizens. [4] The wife of former FDIC Chairman L. William Seidman, Sarah "Sally" Seidman, was described as "instrumental" in bringing the artwork to Grand Rapids. [5]

There is a 1/23-sized model of La Grande Vitesse displayed and mounted near the base of the stabile itself, created with Calder's approval by the Keeler Brass Co. in 1976. It was donated by Mike and Mary Ann Keeler, original contributors in the acquisition of the huge sculpture, and created by the company Mike Keeler's grandfather and great uncles founded in the late 1800s so that blind visitors to the location could "see" the sculpture in its entirety. [6]

Location

The Civic Center in which the sculpture is sited was designed by Chicago architectural firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. The site features two black, rectilinear, curtain-walled buildings for City Hall and Kent County, surrounded by a concrete plaza. The county building, which is shorter with a larger footprint, features an enlarged reproduction of a Calder painting on its roof. [7] The construction and sculpture projects were part of a downtown urban renewal effort. The area is formally named Vandenberg Plaza, after Senator Arthur Vandenberg, but is popularly referred to as Calder Plaza.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Calder</span> American sculptor (1898–1976)

Alexander Calder was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobiles that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static "stabiles", and his monumental public sculptures. Calder preferred not to analyze his work, saying, "Theories may be all very well for the artist himself, but they shouldn't be broadcast to other people."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Valley State University</span> Public university in Allendale, Michigan

Grand Valley State University is a public university in Allendale, Michigan. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on 1,322 acres (5.35 km2) approximately 12 miles (19 km) west of Grand Rapids. The university also features campuses in Grand Rapids and Holland and regional centers in Battle Creek, Detroit, Muskegon, and Traverse City.

Hammering Man is a series of monumental kinetic sculptures by Jonathan Borofsky. The two-dimensional painted steel sculptures were designed at different scales, were painted black, and depict a man with a motorized arm and hammer movement to symbolize workers throughout the world. They were structurally engineered by Leslie E. Robertson Associates (LERA).

<i>Mountains and Clouds</i> Sculpture by Alexander Calder

Mountains and Clouds is a sculpture by Alexander Calder located in the Hart Senate Office Building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park</span> Art Museum, Botanical Garden in Michigan, United States

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is a 158-acre (64 ha) botanical garden, art museum, and outdoor sculpture park located in Grand Rapids Township, Michigan, United States. Opened in 1995, Meijer Gardens quickly established itself in the Midwest as a major cultural attraction jointly focused on horticulture and sculpture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beverly Pepper</span> American sculptor and painter (1922–2020)

Beverly Pepper was an American sculptor known for her monumental works, site specific and land art. She remained independent from any particular art movement. She lived in Italy, primarily in Todi, since the 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyman Kipp</span>

Lyman Emmet Kipp, Jr. was a sculptor and painter who created pieces that are composed of strong vertical and horizontal objects and were often painted in bold primary colors recalling arrangements by De Stijl Constructivists. Kipp is an important figure in the development of the Primary Structure style which came to prominence in the mid-1960s.

<i>Flamingo</i> (sculpture) Sculpture in Chicago, Illinois, by Alexander Calder

Flamingo, created by noted American artist Alexander Calder, is a 53-foot-tall (16 m) stabile located in the Federal Plaza in front of the Kluczynski Federal Building in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It was commissioned by the United States General Services Administration and was unveiled in 1974, although Calder's signature on the sculpture indicates it was constructed in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Festival of the Arts (Grand Rapids)</span>

The Festival of the Arts – known locally as simply Festival, typically with the year added – is a three-day multimedia arts festival, held in Grand Rapids, Michigan on the first Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of June. The event features live performances of music, dance, and other performing arts; displays and sales of paintings and other visual arts; art and sculpture opportunities for children; film/video and literary presentations; and a wide variety of multicultural food booths operated by local non-profit organizations. Typically involving nearly 20,000 community volunteers and over half a million visitors, according to the Library of Congress, Festival is the largest all-volunteer arts festival in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centre Square (building)</span> Office complex in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Centre Square is an office complex in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The complex consists of two concrete high-rise towers: the 417 feet (127 m) Centre Square I, also known as Centre Square East, and the 490 feet (150 m) Centre Square II represent the 24th and 15th-tallest buildings in Philadelphia, respectively. Designed by Vincent Kling & Associates in the 1960s, Centre Square opened in 1973. The complex is credited with shifting Philadelphia's downtown office district from South Broad Street to West Market Street. A tenant since 1975, management consulting firm Willis Towers Watson is Centre Square's largest tenant.

Robert Gray Murray is considered by some to be Canada's foremost abstract sculptor. He also has been called the most important sculptor of his generation worldwide. His large outdoor works are said to resemble the abstract stabile style of Alexander Calder, that is, the self-supporting, static, abstract sculptures, dubbed "stabiles" by Jean Arp in 1932 to differentiate them from Calder's mobiles. Murray focused on "trying to get sculpture back to its essential form", he has said. His work is like colour-field abstraction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holler Back (song)</span> 2008 single by The Lost Trailers

"Holler Back" is a song written by Stokes Nielson and Tim James, and recorded by American country music band The Lost Trailers. The song is the band's fourth chart single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and their first Top 40 hit on that chart. It was released in February 2008 as the title track and lead-off single to their album Holler Back, released in August 2008 on BNA Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ArtPrize</span>

ArtPrize is an art competition and festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Anyone over the age of 18 can display their art, and any space within the three-square-mile ArtPrize district can be a venue. There are typically over 160 venues such as museums, galleries, bars, restaurants, hotels, public parks, bridges, laundromats, auto body shops, and more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse</span> Courthouse in Chicago

The Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse, commonly referred to as the Dirksen Federal Building, is a skyscraper in the Chicago Loop at 219 South Dearborn Street. It was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and completed in 1964. The building is 384 feet (117 m) tall with 30 floors; it was named for U.S. Congressman Everett Dirksen. The building houses the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the United States Bankruptcy Court, the United States Marshal for the Northern District of Illinois, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and local offices for various court-related federal agencies, such as the Federal Public Defender, United States Probation Service, United States Trustee, and National Labor Relations Board. It is one of three buildings making up the modernist Chicago Federal Center complex designed by van der Rohe, along with Federal Plaza, the U.S. Post Office and the Kluczynski Federal Building. Separate from the Federal Plaza, but opposite the Kluczynski Building across Jackson Boulevard, is the Metcalfe Federal Building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Rapids, Michigan</span> City in Michigan, United States

Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,893 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the central city of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area, which has a population of 1,087,592 and a combined statistical area population of 1,383,918.

<i>Gwenfritz</i> Artwork by Alexander Calder

Gwenfritz is a painted steel abstract stabile, by Alexander Calder. It is located at the National Museum of American History, at 14th Street, and Constitution Avenue, in Washington, D.C.

<i>Bent Propeller</i> Former sculpture by Alexander Calder

Bent Propeller was a red stainless steel sculpture by Alexander Calder.

Norie Sato is an artist living in Seattle, Washington. She works in the field of public art using sculpture and various media–including glass, terrazzo, plastic film, stone, and metal–and often incorporating lighting effects, landscaping, mosaics, prints, and video. She frequently collaborates with architects, city planners, and other artists and specializes in integrating artwork and site specific design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amanda Browder</span> American installation artist

Amanda Browder is an American installation artist known for her large-scale fabric installations on building exteriors and other public sites. Her work incorporates donated materials and local volunteers, creating site-specific art. She is the recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and Transformation Fellowship from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV).

References

  1. "Grand Rapids, Michigan (U.S.)". www.crwflags.com. Retrieved 2017-06-03.
  2. "La Grande Vitesse (Viget, a Grand Rapids wiki)". Viget.org. Archived from the original on 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
  3. "West Michigan Sculptures: Alexander Calder La Grande Vitesse, 1969". SculpturesitesGR.org. 1969-06-14. Archived from the original on 2008-12-25. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
  4. 1 2 "40th Anniversary Highlights: 1967 - Initial Public Art Project Becomes a Landmark". National Endowment for the Arts. Archived from the original on 2009-10-15. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
  5. Jim Harger. "Sarah Berry 'Sally' Seidman remember as 'consummate mom,' instrumental in bringing 'La Grande Vitesse' to Grand Rapids". MLive.com. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
  6. Olson, Gordon L. Grand Rapids: A City Renewed - A History Since World War II. 1996. p. 143
  7. "Project Profile: The Art of Retrofit Roofing" . Retrieved 2017-06-03.