Art in Our Midst: Cleveland Outdoor Sculpture Reconsidered

Art in Our Midst:

In this period of self-quarantine and limited social gatherings, The Sculpture Center offers safe, outdoor, tangible art experiences in three cities in Ohio: Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati. Each tour, curated by artists and scholars of note, Art in Our Midst, brings attention to outdoor public sculpture in our communities and cities. We hope to provide recognition of the role large scale art plays in public spaces, and how the combined visions of artists, city planners, private institutions, and residents can enlighten our sense of place in our own backyards.

Curators: Andrea Gyorody and Lo Smith

Curator’s Statement

This tour starts with one of Cleveland’s most iconic public sculptures, Free Stamp, by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, and then spins outward through the city, to corners lesser known and to works that might not conform to traditional notions of sculpture, but that occupy public space in ways no less resonant. Unless you’re in the know, the histories of these works are often opaque; the average visitor has little access to information about who commissioned and paid for them, what purposes they were intended to serve, and how they have changed, materially or contextually, in the years since they were first installed. What stories, values, and commitments have been obscured over time, or hidden in plain sight? “Cleveland Outdoor Sculpture Reconsidered” offers an idiosyncratic introduction to the city’s public art, which becomes a lens through which to understand the city itself, and all the many histories layered beneath the surface of what is visible.