Art in Our Midst: Cleveland Outdoor Sculpture Reconsidered

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 some of the many histories layered beneath the surface of what is visible.