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Author
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Topic: Space public art: murals and large installments
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levasseurj
Member Posts: 27
From: Washington, D.C.
Registered: Jan 2010
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posted 08-30-2014 08:17 PM
   
I'm working on something for my dissertation about artistic representations of Apollo, and other than a mural that was on a building at Drexel University and the big murals and art collection at the National Air and Space Museum, I'm not aware of large pieces in public or private buildings. I'd imagine there are some at NASA, but does anyone know of other installations? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 08-30-2014 08:27 PM
Would the Saturn V painted alongside the building housing the rocket at Johnson Space Center count? There's also the Eric Ober space sculpture garden opposite Johnson Space Center. In addition to the National Air and Space Museum and Johnson Space Center, Robert McCall's murals can be found at the National Gallery of Art, the Pentagon and Disney World Resort's Epcot (according to Wikipedia). |
LM-12
Member Posts: 3208
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-30-2014 09:09 PM
The Marshall Space Flight Center website mentions this mural at the airport.The mural at Dryden (now Armstrong) Flight Research Center does include the lunar landing at top right. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 08-30-2014 09:38 PM
If sculptures are appropriate, than there is a statue of Gene Cernan at the base the lunar module outside the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson, Kansas.There are also identical statues of Jack Swigert, in his Apollo A7L spacesuit, in the Capitol Building in Washington and at the airport in Denver, Colorado. |
DougS
Member Posts: 63
From: Marion, Iowa
Registered: Jun 2013
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posted 09-02-2014 11:49 AM
The Kansas Cosmosphere has a stunning 7' by 14' Robert McCall painting. |
levasseurj
Member Posts: 27
From: Washington, D.C.
Registered: Jan 2010
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posted 09-04-2014 02:41 PM
Thanks for these great suggestions everyone. I suspected most would be associated with locations related to NASA centers, but the sculptures in Houston are pretty cool and worth noting. I did assume there were more McCall murals out there as well, so thanks for helping identify their locations. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-04-2014 03:01 PM
How about the stained-glass, moon-rock embedded Space Window at National Cathedral? Would that count? |
RGW
Member Posts: 40
From: Long Island, New York, USA
Registered: Sep 2004
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posted 09-06-2014 02:12 PM
Along the lines that Robert suggested (above), Long Island's Cradle of Aviation Museum also displays space-related "public art" sculpture.There's a 2-D/3-D rocket launching at the entrance circle. There's also an Apollo moonwalking astronaut statue at the street entrance. Please share your other finds with us as you continue work on your dissertation. |
levasseurj
Member Posts: 27
From: Washington, D.C.
Registered: Jan 2010
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posted 09-08-2014 08:00 AM
I'm looking specifically at things inspired by photographs, so these are tangential to that, but still useful to know about. Clearly, space-related places tend to have space-inspired art of some kind, so if nobody's coming up with non-space places, the building at Drexel that used to have a mosaic inspired by Earthrise may be the only thing out there (though it's gone now sadly). |
RGW
Member Posts: 40
From: Long Island, New York, USA
Registered: Sep 2004
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posted 09-27-2014 02:16 PM
Here's a source you may not have tapped yet: Remembering the Space Age, Steven J. Dick, Editor (NASA History Division, 2008). PDF copy available at here.See chapter entitled "Far Out: American Culture in the Space Age," written by Emily Rosenberg, a History Professor at UC-Irvine. At a conference about "Remembrance and Cultural Representation of the Space Age", in Washington, D.C. in October 2007, upon which the book's chapters was based, I heard Professor Rosenberg deliver the Key Note address: "Space Age in American Culture". She discussed "Public Recollections of a Seminal Event" and framed the space age as being part of the Technetronic Age, where "astrofuturists" (authors and filmmakers) envisioned space flight, and the new medium of television made space missions the "star of spectacularity". Space technologies transformed the media and the synergy between the space missions and image-driven media sustained each other and created excitement in the culture. A futuristic "Space Age Nation on the Go" and a culture experiencing freedom, self-confidence and optimism in the early years of the Space Age helped to inspire the mid-century modernism known as "Googie Architecture", consisting of domes, spires, starbursts and arches that defined America's roadside look in the 1960's. The other speakers I heard on Day Two of the conference were also extremely academic, with a historical focus. An eclectic mix. They each gave presentations studying space exploration as a cultural subject – trying to discern rationales and motivations that transcend the usual "space race / Cold War" justifications for exploration to try to explain how the Space Age is part of our culture. Within that book, or perhaps by contacting Dr. Rosenberg, you may find other leads to Apollo-inspired art in the context of "everyday" American culture. Good luck. Keep us posted. By the way, what happened to the mosaic inspired by Earthrise at Drexel? |
Lou Chinal
Member Posts: 1306
From: Staten Island, NY
Registered: Jun 2007
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posted 09-28-2014 09:14 AM
As suggested by RGW, can anyone post the McCall mural at JSC in Houston, Texas? |
onesmallstep
Member Posts: 1310
From: Staten Island, New York USA
Registered: Nov 2007
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posted 10-13-2014 08:36 AM
Images of most of McCall's murals created for NASA (including for JSC) and the Air and Space Museum can be found at McCall Studios. |
mmcmurrey
Member Posts: 114
From: Austin, TX, USA
Registered: Jun 2012
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posted 10-13-2014 10:59 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Lou Chinal:
As suggested by RGW, can anyone post the McCall mural at JSC in Houston, Texas?
I believe in a previous discussion on Bob McCall's mural, Robert Pearlman posted a picture of it hanging in the Olin Teague Building at JSC.
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 10-13-2014 11:04 AM
I believe you are referring to this photo, posted as part of the Space History of Photo of the Week for March 17, 2012. |
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