Public Art Blog Post

  "Public art is art in any media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and physically accessible to the public; it is installed in public space in both outdoor and indoor settings. Public art seeks to embody public or universal concepts rather than commercial, partisan or personal concepts or interests." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_art  

   One of the most public works of art that i liked is Higher Goals by the artist David Hammons . The idea of the work is very important and useful and encourages ambition and advancement of goals in life. It is also a beautiful and inspiring piece of art.  

"David Hammons (b.1943, Springfield, IL) constructed a temporary sculpture titled Higher Goals. The work was built on site in Brooklyn’s Cadman Plaza Park over a period of eight weeks. 

                                                                     Higher Goals, 1986

Higher Goals consists of five bottle cap-studded telephone poles ranging in height from 20’ to 30’. Mounted at the top of each pole will be a basketball backboard (also covered with bottle caps) complete with hoop and net. In a labor-intensive process, Hammons nailed more than 10,000 bottle caps onto the surface of each pole to create distinctive diamond, spiral and mesh patterns. Hammons explained the concept behind Higher Goals with an analogy to professional basketball teams. “It takes five to play on a team, but there are thousands who want to play—not everyone will make it, but even if they don’t at least they tried.” This statement is indicative of Hammons’ personal belief that aspirations should not be confined to set limits and that individuals should set goals at higher levels (i.e. above the standard 10-foot-high measure of a basketball net)." https://www.publicartfund.org/exhibitions/view/higher-goals/   

     I went to two different parks to see Public art there and i saw two amazing statues memorials for the heroes of the world war. The first one is the  World War I memorial statue Dough Boy in the Dr. Leonard J. Gordon Park at Jersey City Heights and the second one is the Pershing Field Memorial, was sculpted by James Novelli in preshing field park at Jersey City Heights. These two statues are different in appearance only, but they are similar in the idea an goal of perpetuating the memory of the heroes of the world war and keeping their names in an inspiring and dazzling way for new generations to know their great value, as well as the value of national peace and getting rid of wars. 

             World War I memorial statue Dough Boy in the Dr. Leonard J. Gordon Park at Jersey City Heights 

    "In the glory of God we dedicate this monument in grateful remembrance of the Hudson City soldiers, sailors and Marines who made the supreme sacrifice in the World War. Their deeds are immortal and they have earned the historical gratitude of our country. On November 9, 1930, the Hudson City Soldiers and Sailors Welfare League, Inc. placed a World War I memorial statue Dough Boy in the Dr. Leonard J. Gordon Park at Jersey City Heights, developed during the "City Beautiful" movement. The Jersey City Charter Company owned the undeveloped hillside woodland site with stone boulders and sold it to Jersey City for $46,000 on September 19, 1907. The 5.7 acre park was designed by the landscape architect John T. Withers,  who left much of the rocky terrain as he found it." https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/535210896/in/photostream/ 

                        Pershing Field Memorial, by James Novelli in pershing field park at Jersey City Heights.

      "America Triumphant, also known as the Pershing Field Memorial, was sculpted by James Novelli and dedicated at the opening of Pershing Field Memorial Park on July 4, 1922. The eight-foot bronze painted gold memorial sculpture depicts a female figure, dressed in classical garb and holding an inscribed full-length shield in her proper left hand and a gathered bundle of garland in her proper right. It was erected to honor those who fought for liberty and died in World War I. During its dedication ceremony an airplane circled the park for two hours dropping a rose to the ground until 147 landed--one for each Jersey City resident who died in the war.

 

   Pershing Field Memorial Park, also known as Pershing Field Municipal Park, was opened in 1922 and dedicated in 1923, intended to commemorate the soldiers from Jersey City lost during World War I. Named for World War I hero General John J. Pershing, the site was previously used as a World War I military training ground. At approximately 13.5 acres, it one of the largest of Jersey City's municipally operated parks. Originally planned in 1918 as Reservoir Park, it was designed by the noted landscape architect Charles N. Lowrie." https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/16983926852