Des Moines' new federal courthouse features art from a National Medal of Arts recipient
Des Moines will be the home of a new artwork by a National Medal of Arts recipient, the highest award given to artists by the American government.
Ann Hamilton, a decorated visual artist and educator, is responsible for the nine, several-stories high limestone columns that adorn the first-floor atrium of the new U.S. District Courthouse, 101 Locust St. in Des Moines.
The Des Moines Register was invited to the courthouse on Dec. 5 to view the art, which was in the process of installation, and speak with Hamilton, who is based in Ohio and was visiting.
Here’s what to know about Hamilton and this piece of art.
What is this artwork that will be located in the new courthouse?
Inside the $136 million courthouse are nine Valders limestone columns that are the color of sand from northern Wisconsin, she said. On the columns, most of which reach about three-and-a-half stories in height, are words created through sandblasting, where a surface is cleaned, cut or engraved through the force of air or steam with something abrasive, like sand.
The letters are the san serif font Penumbra, a contemporary design that “brings forward” a classical font, Hamilton said.
“The font has a social history to it,” she said. “That social history has a connection to the project because we’re in a contemporary moment but historic precedent is moving with us.”
The words on the stone draw upon the vocabulary from what she described as “foundational documents,” including the Magna Carta and the Civil Rights Act. Hamilton said she felt these documents lay out the aspiration for our democratic legal system.
She read the documents several times, underlining words that struck her. Hamilton then alphabetized the words so that they were out of context from the document she pulled them from.
After, she merged those words together and composed her writings, reading it aloud with others to hear its cadence.
“When I read it, I feel like it has a lot of emotion for the aspirations we hold for our civic institutions and our systems, our public life,” she said. “It’s wanting to place that language here, in this place.”
Each column has different writings. Depending on your placement in the building, different text will be legible.
A fragment from one of the columns reads:
“And establish the sanction of the law free from segregation by unanimous order by reason let facts be submitted to a candid world let the work of history deliver preserve recognize rectify care may then be given ordained with breath in writing granted as it shall be for all.”
It’s also something that people can reach out to touch, Hamilton said, anticipating that the lower panels will be ones felt by visitors.
The name of this art piece has not been determined by Hamilton yet.
Who is Ann Hamilton?
Hamilton was a recipient of the National Medal of Arts in 2014, presented by former President Barack Obama. The Columbus-based artist represented the United States in the São Paulo Bienal in 1991 and the Venice Biennale in 1999 and was the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to the MacArthur Foundation, among several others. Her work has appeared internationally and domestically in museums to public spaces. Some of her work can be viewed on her website annhamiltonstudio.com.
How did Ann Hamilton become involved with the new Des Moines courthouse?
Hamilton was selected as the project artist for the Art in Architecture commission for the new courthouse in Des Moines, the U.S. General Services Administration announced in a news release
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“I feel also just really lucky to have been invited to work on this project, to be working in civic spaces and spaces that are really truly for our public institutions,” she said in a discussion about GSA's Art in Architecture Program and working with others in the process. “That’s something I really care about.”
“The selection of Hamilton acknowledges yet again the breadth and scope of her creative and compelling multimedia installations,” the former director of the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation, M. Jessica Rowe, said in the 2021 news release. “Not only does this commission affirm the prowess of the artist’s visionary experimentations, but it also underscores that women have been and will always be leading contributors to the strength, vitality, and beauty of our community.”
When can I see this art?
“Soon,” said Jasmeet Singh, project manager with Jacobs, a company that provides services that include engineering and construction. Singh would not elaborate further as to what soon means.
The new building was expected to open in July, the Register reported in 2022.
Paris Barraza covers entertainment, lifestyle and arts at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at PBarraza@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines' new federal courthouse features art from Ann Hamilton
