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The New York Times, Sunday, March 16, 1986

Follow-Up on the News

Plan to Relocate Wall Sculpture

To some critics, "Tilted Arc," a sculpture on Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan, is a masterpiece. To 7,000 workers in the area who signed a petition for its removal, the artwork is simply a 120-foot-long steel wall and an eyesore.

In May 1985 the Federal General Services Administration announced that the sculpture, installed in 1980, would be moved. 

William J. Diamond, regional administrator of the G.S.A., commented: "The people have spoken and they have been listened to by their Government."

The sculptor of "Tilted Arc," Richard Serra, said: "To relocate the work is to destroy it. It was built specifically for that place."

The G.S.A. said it would ask the National Endowment for the Arts to appoint a panel to find another site for the sculpture that would not hurt its integrity.

After nine months, such a panel does not yet exist officially.

"The panel's been selected - what we're waiting for now is called the chartering of the panel," reports Richard Andrews, director of visual arts for the national endowment. 

Any Government group like this, he explains, must receive a charter from the General Services Administration. He says the procedure involves, among other things, a legal review to see that the panel conforms to Federal regulations and that its expenses will be covered.

"They're finalizing the review of the papers, and they expect to give us a reply in two weeks," Mr. Andrews says. Once the panel has a charter to operate, he says, the national endowment will announce its members.

There are nine, he notes, "a mix of community representatives, some people from the art world, some people from the legal world." 

After that, Mr. Andrews says, he expects Mr. Diamond to suggest alternate sites for the sculpture.

Mr. Diamond, who says that at this point "I can't move, and I don't understand what's going on," adds: "All I know is I'm ready, willing and able to submit sites." 


Daily News Tuesday, September 1, 1987

Judge KOs heavy metal

Clears way for removal of giant steel sculpture

By ALEX MICHELINI

Daily News Staff Writer

"Tilted Arc" was flattened by a judge yesterday.

Federal Judge Milton Pollack cleared the way for the eviction of the giant steel sculpture from a Manhattan plaza by knocking out a lawsuit by artist Richard Serra.

Serra sought to bar the U.S. General Services Administration from relocating the 73-ton artwork out of the plaza of the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building, 26 Federal Plaza. He also asked for $30 million in damages.

The sculpture, 120 feet long and 12 feet high, has bisected the plaza - and public opinion - since 1981. Opponents blasted it as an ugly scar and another "Berlin Wall," while supporters hailed it as an expression of societal values.

Serra's lawyer, Gustave Harrow, was not available for comment. 

Workers in the surrounding buildings and passersby cheered Pollack's decision.

Paul Tague, 26, of Manhattan, said the sculpture reminded him of "the underside of my car"; Shirley Siegel of Manhattan thought it looked like "a prison wall," and James Rudnik, 36, of Manhattan wondered "what battleship it came off of."

Gloria Nason of Manhattan said she knew exactly what to do with the sculpture: "It belongs in a forest where nobody can see it."

The arc even caught hell from a first-time viewer, vacationing Myrtle James of Bristol, England, who said, "It's hideous. It's a piece of junk...no shape, no beauty."

Barring appeals, the National Endowment for the Arts now will submit proposals for a new home.
 
A government source said at least four facilities have already put in a bid for the piece - Long Island University, the Storm King Art Center in Westchester County, the University of South Carolina, and Everson Galleries in Syracuse. There was no indication, however, when a selection would be made.

Serra, who was paid $175,000 for the sculpture, argued that the removal would violate his free expression right and constitute breach of contract, copyright infringement, and other violations. He claimed an oral contract with GSA gave his creation permanent residency in the plaza, and that removal would harm the artwork because it was specifically crafted for the plaza site.
 
But GSA lawyer Joel Mandelman denied such a promise ever existed. He also said the suit belonged, if anywhere, in the U.S. Court of claims. 

Pollack agreed, tossing out the suit partly on jurisdictional grounds.

[[image]]

'TILTED ARC,' the controversial sculpture at 26 Federal Plaza, may be removed, judge ruled yesterday.
JACK SMITH DAILY NEWS