A survey of public art in Louisville would not be complete without a discussion of the contributions to the city by American sculptors in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This period saw a surge in popularity of monumental sculpture across the country, particularly in growing urban areas such a New York, Boston, and Chicago. These public monuments sometimes took the form of portrait busts, commemorative and equestrian statues, and fountains. As public art, these works enhanced and beautified their cities, while also celebrating their city's history and distinctiveness. Louisville, a much smaller but growing area due to its role as a major shipping port and a leading center for trade in the Midwest, was no different. City leaders and notable patrons of the arts such as General John Breckinridge Castleman and the Bernheim family commissioned works that spoke to the legacy of both the city and the state. While the works in this exhibition are representative of American sculpture of the time in terms of style and purpose, the sculptors, who were both local and visitors to the city of Louisville, considered and embraced Kentucky's heritage and culture when creating their works, resulting in public monuments that are precious to our city to this day. (KTF) This exhibition was curated by Commission on Public Art's Curatorial Intern Kelsey T. Frady, a Ph.D. student of Art History at the University of Louisville. Image Credit: View of Main Street, Louisville in 1846, engraving from History of Kentucky by Richard H. Collins (Covington, Kentucky: Collins & Company,1874)
