Draft:List of public sculptures by Melvin Edwards
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American artist Melvin Edwards has produced nearly two dozen outdoor public sculptures throughout his career. Commissioned by universities, museums, city governments, and private companies, these works are chiefly abstract and usually created with stainless steel, Cor-Ten steel, or painted metal. Many of the works are dedicated to notable figures from African-American cultural history, including the artist David C. Driskell and ophthalmologist David K. McDonogh.
This list comprises extant, permanent public sculptures created by Edwards. This list does not include destroyed sculptures or works displayed in public in conjunction with temporary exhibitions. One sculpture on this list was taken down but, as of 2024, was being recommissioned by the artist.
List of sculptures
[edit]1960s
[edit]- Homage to My Father and the Spirit (1969); Stainless steel and painted steel; Height: 96 in (243.8 cm)[1]
- Commissioned by Cornell University's Johnson Museum of Art in Ithaca, New York.
- Sculpture marked Edwards' first major public commission.[2]
- Originally installed in front of the Johnson Museum;[2] later re-installed in front of Cornell's Appel Commons.[1]
1970s
[edit]- Double Circles (1970); Painted steel
- Commissioned by the New York City Housing Authority for the Bethune Towers apartment complex in Harlem.
- Sculpture consists of several flat vertical steel rings; work was painted red by an unknown party in the 1970s before being repainted gray, similar to the original color; work was also damaged after a truck collided with the sculpture.
- Permanently installed outside the Bethune Towers building in 1970.[2]
- Homage to Billie Holiday and the Young Ones of Soweto (1976-1977); Cor-Ten steel
- Commissioned by Morgan State University's James E. Lewis Museum of Art in Baltimore for the exhibition Resonance.[2]
- Originally installed on the university's campus; Edwards donated the work to the museum;[2] the museum commissioned Edwards to re-build the sculpture in 2024.[3]
1980s
[edit]- Out of the Struggles of the Past to a Brilliant Future (1982); Stainless steel
- Commissioned by the Greater Columbus Arts Council in 1980 for the Mount Vernon Plaza apartment complex in Columbus, Ohio.
- Permanently installed in a plaza outside the building in 1982.[4]
- Gates of Ogun (1983); Stainless steel, 2 parts
- Purchased by SUNY Purchase's Neuberger Museum of Art in Purchase, New York.
- Work was temporarily loaned for display at the White House in 1996 and 1997.
- Installed in various locations on the university's campus since its purchase.[5]
- Southern Sunrise (1983); Stainless steel
- Inaugural commission by Winston-Salem State University for the school's sculpture garden in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
- Permanently installed in the sculpture garden in 1983.[4]
- Holder of the Light (1985); Stainless steel
- Commissioned by the Jersey City Tenants Affairs Board for the Lafayette Gardens public housing complex in Jersey City, New Jersey.
- Originally installed in a plaza outside Lafayette Gardens; removed in the early 2000s as the complex was torn down and redeveloped; reinstalled outside the nearby Lafayette Senior Living Center in 2009.[4]
- Along the Way (1986); Stainless steel
- Commissioned by the accounting firm Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. for the company's headquarters in Montvale, New Jersey.
- Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. merged in 1987 to form KPMG, which now owns the office and sculpture.
- Permanently installed outside the office building in 1986.[6]
- Education is an Open Book (1987); Stainless steel; 240 3/16 × 48 1/16 × 48 1/16 in (610 × 122 × 122 cm)[7]
- Commissioned by Rutgers University for the university's Livingston College in Piscataway, New Jersey.
- Originally installed near the Livingston Student Center in 1987; later re-installed near the Kilmer Library (now the James Dickson Carr Library).[6]
- Confirmation (1989); Stainless steel; 156 × 96 × 192 in (396.2 × 243.8 × 487.7 cm)[8]
- Commissioned by the General Services Administration through the Art in Architecture program for a Social Security Administration building in Queens.[9][6]
- One of seven commissions for the site by African-American artists.[9][6]
- Permanently installed in a public plaza outside the building in 1989.[6]
- Passage (1989); Stainless steel
- Commissioned by Kingsborough Community College for the school's new campus in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn.
- Permanently installed outside the college's Marine and Academic Center in 1989.[10]
1990s
[edit]- Tomorrow's Wind (1989-1991); Stainless steel
- Commissioned by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs for the Doris C. Freedman Plaza in Central Park.
- Originally installed temporarily in Central Park; reinstalled in Thomas Jefferson Park in East Harlem in 1995.[10]
- Safe Journey (1991-1993); Stainless steel
- Commissioned by the state of New Jersey under the state's Buildings Arts Inclusion Act for a vehicle inspection station in Eatontown, New Jersey.
- Permanently installed outside the inspection station on New Jersey Route 36 in Eatontown.[10]
- Asafa Kra No (1993); Painted steel in three parts
- Commissioned by the Utsukushi-ga-hara Open-Air Museum for the first Fujisankei Biennale Sculpture Competition in Japan.
- Sculpture won the Biennale's grand prize.
- Permanently installed at the Open-Air Museum in Matsumoto, Nagano.[11]
- Breaking of the Chains (1995); Stainless steel
- Commissioned by San Diego's local redevelopment agencies for the city's Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade.
- Permanently installed on the promenade along the city's harbor-front in 1996.[11]
2000s
[edit]- Transformations in the Light (2003); Stainless steel
- Commissioned by Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in 2000, with support from the school's Millennial Series on the Arts Fund.
- Permanently installed next to the school's student recreation center in 2003.[11]
- Column of Memory (2005); Steel
- Created by Edwards in a foundry in Dakar, Senegal.
- Sculpture is a larger iteration of Point of Memory (1985), a small work by Edwards that similarly consists of a vertical length of chain running up the side of a metal column.
- Originally installed by Edwards on a local communal farm near Dakar in 2005; eventually donated by Edwards to the city of Dakar after the farm closed; reinstalled permanently in a public park in the city.[12]
- Transcendence (2008); Stainless steel; Height: 16 ft (4.8 m)[13]
- Commissioned by Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.[12]
- Work is dedicated to the 19th-century self-emancipated ophthalmologist David K. McDonogh, a Lafayette alum who had been sent to the school by his enslaver in 1838 to be educated for a missionary voyage to Liberia but graduated from the university and started a medical career instead of returning to slavery.[14][12]
- Permanently installed near the college's Skillman Library.[14][12]
2010s
[edit]- Point of Memory (2010–2013); Steel
- Commissioned by the Cuban nonprofit Caguayo Foundation and Council for the Development of Monumental and Environmental Sculpture in 2010.
- Sculpture is a much larger version of Edwards' previous works Column of Memory (2005) and Point of Memory (1985).
- Dedicated and permanently installed in 2013 at the Parque de la Beneficiencia in Santiago de Cuba in conjunction with the second René Valdés Sculpture Symposium.[12]
2020s
[edit]- David's Dream (2023); Stainless steel
- Commissioned by the University of Maryland, College Park's (UMD) David C. Driskell Center.
- Named and commissioned in honor of the artist, African-American art historian, and UMD professor David Driskell.
- Permanently installed outside the Driskell Center on the university's campus in 2024.[15]
Citations and references
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ a b "Homage to My Father and the Spirit". Cornell University. Archived from the original on 1 January 2025. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ a b c d e Arnold (2015), p. 182
- ^ "Mellon Foundation Continues Support of Morgan State University Arts and Humanities Efforts, Awarding $710,000 in New Grants". Morgan State University (Press release). 24 September 2024. Archived from the original on 2 October 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ a b c Arnold (2015), p. 183
- ^ "Melvin Edwards, Gate of Ogun, 1983". SUNY Purchase. Archived from the original on 1 January 2025. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ a b c d e Arnold (2015), p. 184
- ^ "Education is an Open Book". Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University. Archived from the original on 2 January 2025. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- ^ "Confirmation, Melvin Edwards". General Services Administration. Archived from the original on 13 December 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- ^ a b Brenson, Michael (24 March 1989). "Review/Art; Public Art at New Federal Building in Queens". The New York Times. sec. C, p. 32. OCLC 1645522. Archived from the original on 15 December 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
- ^ a b c Arnold (2015), p. 185
- ^ a b c Arnold (2015), p. 186
- ^ a b c d e Arnold (2015), p. 187
- ^ "Melvin Edwards, Transcendence, 2008". Lafayette College. Archived from the original on 11 September 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- ^ a b McGee, Julie L. (2009). "An Iron Will Commemorated in Steel". The International Review of African American Art. 22 (4). Hampton, Virginia: Hampton University Museum: 13. OCLC 10955508.
- ^ Siler, Brenda C. (10 April 2024). "Sculpture Unveiled in Appreciation for Artist and Educator David C. Driskell". The Washington Informer. OCLC 60630464. Archived from the original on 10 April 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
Cited references
[edit]- Arnold, Leigh A. (2015). "Catalogue of Public Sculptures". In Craft, Catherine (ed.). Melvin Edwards: Five Decades (Exhibition catalogue). Dallas: Nasher Sculpture Center. pp. 180–189. ISBN 9780991233830. OCLC 904049795.