Philadelphia Public Art @philart.net

Year: 2010

Philadelphia's Magic Gardens
Isaiah Zagar, 1994 - 2013
* big abstract partial people, plates, dishes, cups, bottles, bicycle parts, words
* Large portions are visible from the sidewalk. See the website for admission information.
* Courtyard/garden. South side of South between 10th and 11th.
* 39.942825,-75.159400 [map] [nearby]
* On the Lombard-South tour
* Exhibits: Mosaic
* See also:
+phillymagicgardens.org

Buddha and Dragons
2010 (installed)
* Statue of Buddha
* big standing person, headgear, flask, small dragons
* Was at the former Phat Quang Buddhist Temple on 4th, North of Washington. The temple disappeared in 2019.
* 39.935210,-75.150400 [map] [nearby]
* Exhibits: Missing, Religious
* See also:
+whyy.org article about the sale of the temple
+wikipedia.org's Guatama Buddha page

Doorway to Imagination
Emilie Ledieu, 2010
* plants, abstract face
* East Entrance. Laura W. Waring School. West side of 18th, North of Green.
* 39.964775,-75.167550 [map] [nearby]
* On the Fairmount tour
* Exhibits: Mosaic
* See also:
+publicartarchive.org's page for this piece
+publicartarchive.org's Emilie Ledieu page
+waring.philasd.org

Girard Avenue War Memorials
2010 (restored)
* stele
* inscription:
large:
In memory of the men and women of the Pennsylvania Railroad and our community who laid down their lives for our country. Let all who pass here remember those who served in times of peril and whose bravery kept our nation strong and free.
small:
Dedicated to the 29th Ward
War Mothers
Gold Star Mothers
Gold Star Wives
Who offered their all to create peace in the world.
* South side of Girard, East of 31st.
* 39.974820,-75.186525 [map] [nearby]
* On the Fairmount tour
* Exhibits: War

Golazo
Baily Cypress, 2010 - 2012
* ideas and logos
* inscription: Soccer for social change. Leadership beyond the game.
* Wall. Starfinder Foundation. 4015 Main Street. Northeast side of Main, Southeast of Shurs Lane.
* 40.021225,-75.216890 [map] [nearby]
* On the Manayunk tour
* Exhibits: Athletic
* See also:
+Baily Cypress on facebook.com
+starfinderfoundation.org

Labour Monument
John Kindness, 2010
* Representations of and quote from Eugene V. Debs, Joe Hill and Karen Gay Silkwood
* partial, standing, sitting and kneeling people, hats, musical instruments, tools, bags and buckets, train, plants
* The title shown is the artist's title. The Association for Public Art lists it as "The Labor Monument: Philadelphia's Tribute to the American Worker"
* inscription:
Eugene V. Debs 1855-1926
1900 Farm Workers "Si Sepuede"
1905 IWW - The Wobblies - "Don't waste your time mourning. Organize." - Joe Hill, 1918
1912 Textile Workers
1968 Sanitation Workers - "I am a man"
Karen Gay Silkwood 1940-74
The worst thief is he who steals the playtime of children
* Center of Elmwood Park. Southwest of 71st and Buist.
* 39.913850,-75.237740 [map] [nearby]
* On the Southwest Philly tour
* Exhibits: Labor, Mass Transit
* See also:
+wikipedia.org's Child Labor page
+wikipedia.org's Memphis Sanitation Strike page
+wikipedia.org's United Farm Workers page
+wikipedia.org's John Kindness page
+wikipedia.org's Eugene V. Debs page
+wikipedia.org's Joe Hill page
+wikipedia.org's Karen Silkwood page
+wikipedia.org's Elmwood Park neighborhood page

Memorial to Enslaved People of African Descent in the United States of America
Emanuel Kelly (Architect), 2010
* Quotes from Maya Angelou, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper and Barack Obama
* enclosed space, ideas
* This entry is focused on the part of "The President’s House: Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a New Nation" that does not seem to have an official name. The plaque simply labels it "Memorial." The National Park Service web site calls it "a memorial to enslaved Africans." Avenging the Ancestors calls it the "Slavery Memorial.". It features an extensive amount of text, including African sayings, symbols, and a list of African countries. Reproduced here as inscriptions are the text of the plaque, and the quotes from named individuals. The last picture, of the wall with the names of the enslaved people who lived in the President's House, is part of the larger piece and not the Memorial.
* inscription:
"Either America will destroy ignorance or ignorance will destroy the United States." -W.E.B. Du Bois
"I ask no monument proud and high to arrest the gaze of the passers-by, all that my yearning spirit craves, is bury me not in a land of slaves." -Frances Ellen Watkin Harper
"You the Ashanti, the Yoruba, the Kru, bought, sold, stolen, arriving on a nightmare praying for a dream." -Maya Angelou
"We gave sought to bind the chains of slavery on the limbs of the black man, without thinking that at last we should find the other end of that hateful chain about our own necks." -Frederick Douglass
"It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom... yes we can, yes we can." -Barack Obama
This enclosed space is dedicated to millions of men, women, and children of African descent who lived, worked, and died as enslaved people in the United States of America. They should never again be forgotten. One of two smokehouse rooms in which three enslaved men slept - Giles, Paris, and Austin - once stood in this area. The close proximity to the Liberty Bell Center reminds us that Liberty was not originally intended for all.
It is difficult to understand how men who spoke so passionately of liberty and freedom were unable to see the contradiction, the injustice, and the immorality of their actions. Enslaved Africans and their descendants endured brutality and mistreatment for over 200 years even as their labor build and enriched the nation. The struggle for freedom and political, social, and economic equality continued even after the legal standing of slavery. The devestating effects of slavery continue to affect race relations to this day. Yet, we must continue to strive for the ideals embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America.
The African symbols, words, and quotations on the exterior and interior walls speak to the spirit of hope, the resiliance of the human spirit, and the determination of a people to arise out of bondage to freedom.
City of Philadelphia | National Park Service
* Southeast corner, 6th and Market.
* 39.950300,-75.150050 [map] [nearby]
* On the Independence Mall tour
* Exhibits: Black Lives, Labor
* See also:
+associationforpublicart.org's page for this piece
+hiddencityphila.org article about the controversy and history of this piece
+phillytrib.com review of a book about this piece
+associationforpublicart.org's rememberance of Emanual Kelly
+temple.edu's rememberance of Emanual Kelly
+wikipedia.org's Maya Angelou page
+wikipedia.org's Frederick Douglass page
+wikipedia.org's W.E.B. Du Bois page
+wikipedia.org's Frances Ellen Watkins Harper page
+wikipedia.org's Barack Obama page

Pyramid (Philadelphia)
Sol LeWitt, 2010 (realized)
* abstract pyramid
* West end of the Anne d'Harnoncourt Sculpture Garden. Anne d'Harnocourt Drive (25th and Kelly Drive to the Spring Garden Bridge).
* 39.967150,-75.182350 [map] [nearby]
* On the Art Museum Grounds tour
* See also:
+wikipedia.org's Sol LeWitt page
+theolinstudio.com's Anne d'Harnoncourt Sculpture Garden page

Re:flection
Jefre, 2010
* abstract steles, actual plants
* Was on the Northwest corner, 38th and Powelton for approximately three years. On September 15, 2013, it was gone and the sidewalk where it had been was freshly replaced.
* 39.959700,-75.196800 [map] [nearby]
* Exhibits: Missing
* See also:
+jefre.org