Hartford’s Dinosaur at Alfred Burr Mall
Main street of a town is always full of town’s history. Hartford’s main street has one such story. I fondly call the below sculpture as Hartford’s Dinosaur.
Like me, many of you who have walked past this beautiful sculpture in your morning commute or walking around downtown Hartford, it is hard to miss this mighty structure painted in “Calder red”. You might also have varying ideas of what this sculpture represents — A crown, Pointy thingy, Red sculpture, steel sculpture, water fountain sculpture etc.,
For me, it looked like an artistic installation of a crown. Until one day my friend Theresa said “It is actually a representation of a Dinosaur, remind me when we walk by City steam, I will show you a tile explaining this.” Below is the picture of a tile on a wall in Temple Street.
That was the moment that intrigued me, why would someone build a dinosaur sculpture in the center of a city’s downtown?
I have learnt some really interesting information about the sculpture and excited to shared this with you. Let’s look at in two parts:
- History of the Sculpture
- It’s artistic significance
History of the Sculpture
It was created by Alexander Calder and dedicated on October 10, 1973. The sculpture is located at a mall in Main street that is named after Alfred E Burr. He was the founder of now-defunct Hartford Times and the owner of it for over six decades since 1841.
Calder was commissioned to design the sculpture by the Ella Burr McManus(daughter of Alfred Burr) Trust in memory of Alfred E. Burr.
The trust was established in Burr McManus’ will. The will stipulated that the trust be used to create a memorial to her father that was “artistic in design and humane in purpose, preferably a drinking fountain for both human beings and animals.”
Artistic Signifiance (from Toldeo Museum of Art)
Stegosaurus, a late work in Calder’s long and prolific career, is both a powerful, elegant composition of forms and a playful reference to the eccentrically shaped dinosaur.
Calder had a lifelong fascination with unusual and fanciful creatures, in particular birds and dinosaurs. He was especially skilled in capturing the essence of a creature or other form by focusing on a single feature. In this case, the steel plates — painted “Calder red” — jutting up from the arches of the sculpture suggest the dinosaur’s spiky plates.
In the case of Stegosaurus, Calder maintained an explicit connection to the real world. Here he kept the two most distinguishing features of the eponymous dinosaur: the rounded hulking body and the distinctive bony plates along its spine.
I also learnt that Alfred Burr had a strong participation in political arena. And the connection Alexander Calder has with Connecitcut — you can learn more about Calder’s arts in the Smithsonian site.
As for as the changes on the outset, you can see that The Hartford times building is now an UCONN building. This change in the building’s function embodies the changes in the modern world (An old newspaper building is now a Education building) and Hartford in particular.
As my curiosity grows, I am learning that History is actually fascinating and it helps me connect the dots around me. History isn’t as bad as I thought it is as in my school days.
To quote George Santayana — “To know your future you must know your past”. I believe this applies to the society as a whole as well.
I wish you to find more such stories and enjoy learning about them as I do! Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section.
Resources:
http://www.theartstory.org/artist-calder-alexander.htm" Alexander Calder on TheArtStory.org
http://www.calder.org/" Official Calder Estate website
