Private Art vs. Public Art

Public Art: Sculpture by George Rickey

Location: Greene Building, Rensselar Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

Rickey loaned this sculpture to RPI on a long term basis many years ago. It’s been said that one of the reasons he did this was because the person who engineered all of his sculptures was Roland Hummel who taught structures in the School of Architecture for many years. When Hummel retired, Rickey offered to sell the sculpture for a really good price. RPI at the time didn’t think it was necessary to buy it and declined the offer. Rickey then had the statue removed. When Dean Balfour joined RPI, he began a campaign to retrieve the sculpture. Unfortunately the original was long gone, but after some persuasion, Rickey agreed to build another one. The sculpture that stands there now was placed around 1999 or 2000.

I believe that this sculpture functions as a symbol for our School of Architecture. With its innovative and radical design, it embodies the way we are taught to design. Another topic that its history conjures is that the appreciation of non-conventional art has been growing. 13 years ago, RPI didn’t think twice about this sculpture, but eventually they realized the importance of it.

Public Art: Statue of Uncle Sam

Location: Downtown Troy

Troy’s claim to fame, so to speak, is that it is the hometown of Uncle Sam. (I think you should mention who Uncle Sam is) One can find references to Uncle Sam downtown more so than any other part of Troy. At this intersection alone, there is a statue, a bus stop, and a parking garage both named after him. Behind the statue is a recreation park and pavilion.

Much like a school uses their mascot for school spirit, I think that these monuments help to unite Troy and give it a sense of pride. Downtown Troy is rather infamous for the crimes that occur, and it isn’t exactly the safest place to be at night. Placing these monuments in this area is an effort to promote community activities in hopes of getting the trouble out of the streets (I would disagree – the monuments are markers of sites, commemorative of certain person or event and as you said to create a sense of pride rather than to promote activity. But I think you could comment on how Troy the spite being economically depressed or abandoned or poor (?) still has a lot of charm and historical references somehow reinforced by the statue – or something along those lines)

Private Art: Personal pictures in decorative frame

Location: My bedroom

Last class meeting we talked about whether or not photographs should be considered art. The topic could be argued infinitely. However, that is not what this picture is about. What is different about this picture is that the person that gave me this gift spent time in altering the original photographs to make a statement. On top of that, because the pictures came in the frame, it is to be analyzed as a whole package or presentation. This work of art speaks to me because it is personal. I doubt that anyone else will walk into my room and consider this a work of art. This is my definition of private art.