Focus on this artwork and discuss the History.
The statue was created in 1959, commissioned by Anthony De Tomasi. It was offered to the city of San Francisco, which declined the gift. In 1966, De Tomasi installed the sculpture in a park he was developing in Barrington, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. After several decades there, it fell into disrepair, including one of its eyes shot out.The statue was moved to Columbus in 1986, in three pieces in a Columbus Parks and Recreation office. It was restored by Tibor in 1987 and donated to the college one year later, installed in May 1988. The 2020 George Floyd protests in Columbus created calls to remove the statue, with petitions circulating to also remove other statues of the explorer and to rename the city. The college stated it was looking into removing the statue, and it may be the first to be removed out of the three in the city. On June 16, the school administration announced it will remove and store the statue, and will aim to place a different work of art on the statue's pedestal. The family of the sculptor stated that they are against its removal. Columbus City Council President Pro Tem Elizabeth Brown supported the statue's removal, stating that City Hall's must be next. The statue was vandalized in mid-June, 2020. Hours after the statue's removal was announced, it was vandalized again, with spray-painted "America's first Atlantic slaver".
Barrington, Illinois San Francisco George Floyd protests George Floyd protests in Columbus Chicago