Gift of the Winds (1978)

by Joseph C. Bailey (1937 - 1994)

Photo Caption: Photo Ashley Lippolis © 2022 for the Association for Public Art
  • Title

    Gift of the Winds

  • Artist

    Joseph C. Bailey (1937 - 1994)

  • Year

    1978; relocated 2020-2021

  • Location

    Garden path next to Faith and Liberty Discovery Center, between 4th and 5th Streets and north of Market Street

  • Medium

    Stainless steel and manganese bronze, on brick planter base

  • Dimensions

    Height 17′; width 10′; depth 10′ (base height 4′)

  • Themes

    Black and African American Themes and Artists

Commissioned by the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority

Owned by the property owner

At A Glance

  • The leaf-like forms consist of mirror-polished steel around a core of manganese bronze

  • The sculpture was commissioned for the entrance of a bank building as part of the Redevelopment Authority’s 1% program

  • Artist Joseph Bailey wanted to link the geometry of the architecture with the park-like setting of nearby Independence Mall

  • The sculpture was moved to another area on site as part of the new Faith and Liberty Discovery Center that opened in 2021

The leaf-like forms of Joseph Bailey’s Gift of the Winds consist of mirror-polished steel around a core of manganese bronze. On two of the surfaces, curving shapes that suggest natural forms such as roots or tendrils are cut into the steel to reveal the bronze beneath, and the central “leaf” is positioned so that it reflects these images on both sides.

Trees were planted close to the sculpture so that the leaves would reflect in the steel surfaces.

In this work, commissioned for the entrance of a bank building as part of the Redevelopment Authority’s Percent for Art program, Bailey wanted to link the geometry of the architecture with the park-like setting of nearby Independence Mall; thus he used hard-edged metal forms to suggest organic shapes. Trees were planted close to the sculpture so that the leaves would reflect in the steel surfaces. People approaching the sculpture can see themselves reflected as well.

Photo Ashley Lippolis © 2022 for the Association for Public Art

As part of the renovations on site for the new Faith and Liberty Discovery Center, which opened in May 2021, Gift of the Winds was relocated to another side of the building, along a “contemplative garden” path with seating between 4th and 5th Streets.

Adapted from Public Art in Philadelphia by Penny Balkin Bach (Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1992).

 

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