Public Art Conference Archive—2004

Key Panel Presentation: The Future of Our National Mall
Charles Atherton's Abstract
FAIA, Former Secretary, U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, Washington, DC

In the view of the National Park Service, the primary purpose of the National Mall is: (1) to serve as the context for the national monuments, (2) to provide a stage for demonstrations on national issues, and (3) as a space for recreation. In speaking of the Mall, I’m referring to the open space we all know as the monumental core, not just the greensward between the Washington Monument grounds and the Capitol, but also the framing Avenues, Constitution and Independence, and the area to the sides of the Reflecting Pool to the west. Also, Constitution Gardens, with its Signers Memorial—the Vietnam and Korean Memorials, and the FDR Memorial, all occupy sites in what is generally known as West Potomac Park.

In the Park Service’s opinion, sculpture in this area is to be seen solely as a component of a congressionally authorized memorial and nothing more. Only the Smithsonian and its Hirshhorn Sculpture Gardens and the National Gallery’s East Building and its’ Sculpture Garden on the west afford the opportunity to see large scale sculptures in an outdoor setting. Facing each other on the 8th Street cross-axis of the Mall, the two sites are both contained in a strict geometric “room” adjacent to the placement of sculpture elsewhere in adjoining space. Happily, there are precedents that would amply justify a re-examination of their restrictive attitudes. 

Several years ago, while the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden was under extensive renovation, a number of pieces found quite acceptable “homes” outside the formal Garden next to sidewalks along 7th Street and Madison Drive. Across the street, on the west end of the Air and Space Museum site, sits a fine example of geometric design, an open structural pyramid of rotating metal sails, a gift of the Argentinean government in 1976. In the late 1960’s, a Calder stabile was installed on the west side of the Museum of American History, a gift of the Cafritz family. The latter two examples are both “permanent” as such, and have become familiar pieces of the landscape.

The last example of note is the East Building of the National Gallery of Art, which is the site of several notable pieces placed in the landscape adjacent to the building, including a rather aggressive work by Frank Stella. Like the Calder stabile, it is moderately displayed behind a number of trees and is only marginally visible from the adjoining public roads, particularly Constitution Avenue, which frames the northern edge of the Mall for its entire length.  In fact, it is Constitution Avenue that offers a number of opportunities for the placement of sculpture on a temporary basis at midpoint. It adjoins the Ellipse such as the Botero pieces that were shown there a few years ago. Technically, this land is not part of the Mall park system, but nevertheless, it is in the domain on the National Park Service; known as Reservation No. 1, it is the site of the White House which, in the installation of the Boteros, was most fortuitous. Vigorously opposed by the National Park Service, it took the intervention by the First Lady to make it all happen.

In conclusion, there are ample precedents for the temporary display of sculpture along the Mall and on a number of suitable sites along the major avenues and West Potomac Park. What is missing, of course, is a thoughtful steward of the land that looks upon sculpture as more than monuments and memorials, but as something to delight the eye and the spirit.