Philadelphia Public Art @philart.net

Nearby 39.952240,-75.151550

List View | Map View

United States Mint Historical Plaque
1992
* small buildings, standing people, sitting people, cart, horses, plants, flags, clouds
* inscription:
On this site stood The First United States Mint
First Public Building Authorized by the United States Government
This plaque dedicated for the bicentennial of the U.S. Mint 1792-1992
First Mint 1792-1833 7th Street between Market and Arch
Second Mint 1833-1901 Juniper and Chestnut Sts.
Third Mint 1901-1969 16th and Spring Garden Sts.
Fourth Mint 1969 - 5th and Arch Sts.
* Wall. East side of 7th between Market and Arch.
* 39.952240,-75.151550 [map] [nearby]
* On the Independence Mall tour
* Exhibits: Unidentified Artists

The Whispering Bells of Freedom
Reginald Beauchamp, 1976
* In honor of Crispus Attucks
* bells, buildings, people standing, prone, weapons, hats, dog
* Listed with multiple similar titles. This one was taken from the beginning of the inscription.
* inscription:
The whispering bells of freedom in honor of Crispus Attucks
Who on March 5, 1770 was killed by British troops in Boston while protesting conditions under the crown.
These whispers of freedom grew into the crescendo of the Declaration of Independence and the first ringing of the Liberty Bell in Independence Hall.
* Outside the African American Museum. Northwest corner, 7th and Arch.
* 39.953125,-75.151650 [map] [nearby]
* On the Independence Mall tour
* Exhibits: War, Black Lives
* See also:
+associationforpublicart.org's page for this piece
+wikipedia.org's Reginald Beauchamp page
+wikipedia.org's Crispus Attucks page
+aampmuseum.org

Nesaika
John Rhoden, 1976
* abstract standing person
* Outside the African American Museum. Northwest corner, 7th and Arch.
* 39.953250,-75.151600 [map] [nearby]
* On the Independence Mall tour
* Exhibits: Black Lives
* See also:
+associationforpublicart.org's page for this piece
+nytimes.com John Rhoden obituary
+aampmuseum.org

Balance
Jill Sablosky, 2009
* abstract furniture forms, steles, ideas
* inscription:
E Pluribus Unum
Out of Many One
* Northwest corner, 7th and Appletree.
* 39.953550,-75.151600 [map] [nearby]
* On the Independence Mall tour
* See also:
+associationforpublicart.org's page for this piece
+artist's page for this piece
+jillsablosky.com

Voyage of Ulysses
David von Schlegell, 1977
* Recalling the voyage of Ulysses
* abstract fountain
* On April 24, 2013 the sculptural element was gone and the fountain was base torn up. On March 8, 2014, the sculptural element was back and the fountain base had been replaced.
* Plaza. West side of 6th between Market and Arch, between the James A. Byrne Federal Courthouse the the William J. Green, Jr. Federal Building..
* 39.951875,-75.150500 [map] [nearby]
* On the Independence Mall tour
* See also:
+associationforpublicart.org's page for this piece
+nytimes.com's David von Schlegell obituary
+wikipedia.org's Odysseus/Ulysses page

Justice the Guardian of Liberty
1975
* Seal of the United States of America, eagle, stars, olive branches, shield and arrows
* South wall. Federal Court. North side of Market, East of 7th.
* 39.951000,-75.151300 [map] [nearby]
* On the Independence Mall tour
* Exhibits: Unidentified Artists
* See also:
+wikipedia.org's James A. Byrne United States Courthouse page

Bicentennial Dawn
Louise Nevelson, 1975
* abstract forms
* Visible through the glass. Sometimes accessible through the building.
* inscription:
My search in life has been for a new seeing, a new image, a new insight, a new consciousness. This search includes the object as well as the in-between places - the dawns and the dusks, the objective world, the heavenly spheres, the places between the land and the sea... Man's creations arrest the secret images that can be found in nature.
Bicentennial Dawn is a place, an environment that exists between night and day - solid and liquid - temporal and eternal substances. It can be experienced as a monument to the past as well as the spores of the future. Contemplation is the means by which we extend our awareness.
Bicentennial Dawn is a contemplative experience in search of awareness that already exists in the human mind. The inner and the outer equal one.
* Inside. Federal Court. 6th and Market, Northwest of the Northwest corner.
* 39.951225,-75.150600 [map] [nearby]
* On the Independence Mall tour
* See also:
+associationforpublicart.org's page for this piece
+si.edu interview with Louise Nevelson
+wikipedia.org's Louise Nevelson page
+wikipedia.org's James A. Byrne United States Courthouse page

Milkweed Pod
Clark B. Fitz-Gerald, 1965
* big plant fountain
* Courtyard. Behind the Rohm and Haas building, West side of 6th street between Chestnut and Market (go up the steps and through the underpass).
* 39.950300,-75.151400 [map] [nearby]
* On the Independence Mall tour
* See also:
+associationforpublicart.org's page for this piece
+Clark Fitz-Gerald gallery from sfitzgeraldfineart.com

Parkade on 8th
WRT, 2015
* big abstract colored forms, lights
* Parking garage. South side of Arch, spanning 8th.
* 39.953065,-75.153100 [map] [nearby]
* On the Chinatown tour
* See also:
+wrtdesign.com page for this piece
+wrtdesign.com

American Song
Eric Parks, 1976
* sitting person, flute
* There are a couple of online references to this statue having been installed at the entrance of the Living History Center in 1976. The Smithsonian only lists a 1988 copy at King's College in Wilkes-Barre. This seems more likely to be the 1976 copy, as it is in a parking lot behind WHYY, which is where the Living History Center used to be.
* Parking lot, East side of 7th between Arch and Race.
* 39.954160,-75.150810 [map] [nearby]
* On the Independence Mall tour
* See also:
+elvisnews.com article about Eric Parks

Indelible
Alison Sky, 2003
* Quotes from Abigail Adams, Susan B. Anthony, Chief Joseph, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Yan Phou Lee, Sitting Bull and Harriet Tubman
* words and ideas
* South wall. Independence Visitor Center. Northeast corner, 6th and Market.
* 39.950850,-75.150110 [map] [nearby]
* On the Independence Mall tour
* See also:
+artist's page for this piece
+associationforpublicart.org's page for this piece
+alisonsky.com
+wikipedia.org's Abigail Adams page
+wikipedia.org's Susan B. Anthony page
+wikipedia.org's Chief Joseph page
+wikipedia.org's Thomas Jefferson page
+wikipedia.org's Martin Luther King, Jr. page
+wikipedia.org's Yan Phou Lee page
+yalealumnimagazine.com article about Yan Phou Lee
+wikipedia.org's Sitting Bull page
+wikipedia.org's Harriet Tubman page
+phlvisitorcenter.com

Phaedrus
Beverly Pepper, 1976 (installed 1977)
* abstract form
* West side of 6th, North of Arch.
* 39.953740,-75.149900 [map] [nearby]
* On the Independence Mall tour
* See also:
+associationforpublicart.org's page for this piece
+beverlypepper.net

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

Last Resting Place of Benjamin Franklin
* Memorial to and relief bust of (with quotes from) Benjamin Franklin, Honore Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, Anne Robert Jacques Turgot and George Washington
* small head
* inscription:
The last resting place of Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790
"Venerated for benevolence, admired for talent, esteemed for patriotism, beloved for philanthropy"
-Washington
"The sage whom two worlds claimed as their own."
-Mirabeua
"He tore from the skies the lightning and from tyrants the sceptre"
-Turgot

* Fencepost. South side of Arch, just East of 5th.
* 39.952450,-75.148250 [map] [nearby]
* On the Independence Mall tour
* Exhibits: Unidentified Artists
* See also:
+wikipedia.org's Benjamin Franklin page
+wikipedia.org's Mirabeau page
+wikipedia.org's Turgot page
+wikipedia.org's George Washington page

The Dragons
Ward Tomlinson Elicker, 2009
* big dragons
* On top of the parking lot wall. North side of Arch, East of 9th.
* 39.953375,-75.154100 [map] [nearby]
* On the Chinatown tour
* See also:
+elickersculpture.com

Strawbridge and Clothier Building West Entrance
Edward Paul Simon (Architect), Grant Miles Simon (Architect), 1931
* bas relief of William Penn
* small logo, standing people, headgear, peace pipe, paper, plants, winged cherubs, birds
* the building has been divided up and used by many different businesses since the department store closed in 2006
* inscription: STRAWBRIDGE AND CLOTHIER SEAL OF CONFIDENCE
* Above the entrance. North side of Market, East of 9th.
* 39.951400,-75.154575 [map] [nearby]
* On the Jefferson Center City Campus tour
* See also:
+philadelphiabuildings.org's page for the building
+wikipedia.org's Strawbridge's page
+picture of the building still under construction in 1930 at phillyhistory.org
+philadelphiabuildings.org's Edward Paul Simon page
+philadelphiabuildings.org's Grant Miles Simon page
+wikipedia.org's William Penn page

We the People
Ian Bader, Henry N. Cobb, 2003 (year of building)
* big preamble to the Constitution, sign
* inscription: We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty for the United States of America. to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution
* Wall. Constitution Center. West side of 5th, North of Arch.
* 39.953275,-75.148700 [map] [nearby]
* On the Independence Mall tour
* See also:
+pfc-p.com's page for the building
+pfc-p.com's Ian Bader page
+pfc-p.com's Henry N. Cobb page
+constitutioncenter.org

Commodore Uriah Phillips Levy
Gregory Pototsky, 2011
* Statue of, in memory of: Uriah Phillips Levy and James A. Zimble
* small standing person, sword, paper, Star of David and U.S. Navy logo
* inscription:
April 22, 1792 - March 22, 1862
Nissan 30, 5552 - Adar II 20, 5622
"I am an American, a sailor, and a Jew."
Born in Philadelphia in 1792, Uriah Phillips Levy was a fifth generation American. According to family stories, he left for sea at ten years old, returning to celebrate his bar mitzvah here at Congregation Mikveh Israel in 1805. He served with distinction in the U.S. Navy in the War of 1812, and became the first Jewish U.S. Navy Commodore, a rank equivalent to Admiral today.
During his fifty-year naval career, Levy was court martialed six times and killed a man in a duel - all incidents related to rampant anti-Semitism. He was dismissed twice from the U.S. Navy, but was reinstated by Presidents James Monroe and John Tyler. He went on to command the Mediterranean Fleet and was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln to the Navy Court Martial Board during the Civil War. Levy played a key role in helping to repeal the flogging of sailors, making the U.S. Navy the first military organization in the world to abolish physical punishment.
Levy greatly admired President Thomas Jefferson and the Bill of Rights he crafted, which safeguarded religious liberties for all Americans. In 1832, he commissioned a statue of Jefferson, which sits in the U.S. Capitol today. In 1834, Levy purchased Monticello, Jefferson's home near Charlottesville, Virginia, which he repaired, restored, and preserved for future generations.
The World War II destroyer escort USS Levy (DE-162) was named in his honor, as were the Uriah P. Levy Jewish Chapel at the Norfolk Naval Base in Virginia, and the Commodore Uriah P. Levy Center and Jewish Chapel at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Levy is buried at the Beth Olom Cemetery in Queens, New York.
Given with love of God and Country
in memory of Vice Admiral James A. Zimble, MC USN Ret. (1933-2011)
Beloved 30th Surgeon General of the U.S. Navy
Dedicated December 16, 2011, Kislev 20, 5772
Rabbi Aaron Landes, Rear Admiral CHC USN Ret.
Captain Gary "Yuri" Tabach, USN Ret.
Joshua H. Landes
* West side of Mikveh Israel. East side of 5th, North of Market.
* 39.951325,-75.148400 [map] [nearby]
* On the Independence Mall tour
* Exhibits: Religious, War
* See also:
+artist's page for this piece
+pototsky.ru
+wikipedia.org's Uriah P. Levy page
+wikipedia.org's James A, Zimble page
+mikvehisrael.org

Beacon
FKB, Local Projects, 2021
* big abstract ideas
* inscription: FAITH LIBERTY JUSTICE
* Rising through the roof. The former Faith and Liberty Discovery Center. East side of 5th, North of Market.
* 39.951085,-75.148575 [map] [nearby]
* On the Independence Mall tour
* Exhibits: Religious
* See also:
+localprojects.com page for this piece
+amaricanbible.org article about this piece
+fkb.studio
+localprojects.com

OY/YO
Deborah Kass, 2022
* idea
* Officially temporarily installed for a year, hopefully longer.
* In front of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History. Southeast corner, 5th and Market.
* 39.950400,-75.148840 [map] [nearby]
* On the Independence Mall tour
* See also:
+streetsdept.com article about the installation of this piece
+deborahkass.com
+theweitzman.org

Religious Liberty
Moses Jacob Ezekiel, 1876
* big standing people, liberty cap, eagle, serpent, flame, the Constitution
* Was half a block North on 5th. Moved late 2010. The first two pictures are from the current location. The rest are from the previous location.
* inscription:
Plinth:
Dedicated to the people of the United States by the order B'nai B'rith and Israelites of America in commemoration of the centennial anniversary of American Independence.
Plaque:
Commissioned by B'nai B'rith for the United States Centenial, "Religious Liberty" was dedicated in Fairmount Park on Thanksgiving Day in 1876.
Carved in Rome from a single block of carrara marble, the statue was executed by Sir Moses Ezekiel, an American Jewish sculptor.
The monument was rededicated by B'nai B'rith International for this nation's Bicentennial in 1976.
The allegorical group represents liberty protecting religious freedom. The female figure wears the liberty cap bordered by thirteen stars for each of the original American colonies. In her left hand, she holds the constitution of the United States the legal document by which freedom is guaranteed to all citizens.
Religion is personified by a youth standing beside the figure of Liberty, whose outstretched arm extends over him protectively. His right hand reaches toward her, while in his left, he holds the inextinguishable flame of faith.
At the base of the group is an American eagle crushing a serpent in its talons, signifying the triumph of American democracy over the tyranny of intolerance and oppression.
The monument was relocated to Independence Mall and rededicated on May 4, 1986 in an historic joint venture between B'nai B'rith International and the National Museum of American Jewish History.
From this site, the statue proclaims in harmony with the Liberty Bell only steps away, a resounding message of religious liberty for all peoples.
* In front of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History. Southeast corner, 5th and Market.
* 39.950350,-75.148825 [map] [nearby]
* On the Independence Mall tour
* Exhibits: Religious, Moved
* See also:
+Max Buten's first picture of this piece
+Max Buten's second picture of this piece
+Max Buten's third picture of this piece
+associationforpublicart.org's page for this piece
+jewishvirtuallibrary.org's Moses Jacob Ezekiel page
+theweitzman.org

Dedicated to the American Secretary
Costantino Nivola, 1970
* abstract standing person
* Moved slightly Northeast some time before June 20, 2014, from back against the wall of the building as in the second picture, to up against the sidewalk railing as in the first picture.
* Plaza. South side of Market, between 4th and 5th.
* 39.950250,-75.148000 [map] [nearby]
* On the Independence Mall tour
* Exhibits: Moved, Labor
* See also:
+wikipedia.org's Costantino Nivola page
+publicartarchive.org's Constantino Nivola page