Tilted Arc
Coordinates: 40°42′54.78″N 74°0′13.21″W / 40.7152167°N 74.0036694°W
Tilted Arc was a site-specific sculpture originally commissioned by the United States General Services Administration Arts-in-Architecture program for the Foley Federal Plaza in front of the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in Manhattan, New York City. The post-minimalist artwork was designed by the well-known artist Richard Serra and constructed in 1981. However, after much debate, it was removed in 1989 following a lawsuit. Richard Serra is one of the leading minimalist sculptors and started his notable body of work after his graduation from Yale University where he studied fine art. This work exemplifies his minimalist, conceptual style.Tilted Arc was created when Serra was forty years old and was already a respected artist; thus, there was much attention given to the removal of his work.
In 1979 the Art-in-Architecture program decided to commission a work of public art to grace the open space in front of a planned addition to the Javits Federal Building. An outdoor sculpture would be designed for the plaza adjacent to a federal-office complex. Richard Serra was selected as the artist by the U.S. General Services Administration administrator, after having been recommended by a National Endowment for the Arts panel of art experts. Serra was already a notable artist at the time, with much admiration from the art world. The contract for the commission included a release in which Serra gave the work to GSA, making it property of the United States.
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