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La Grand Vitesse

Photo Essays

La Grande Vitesse

July 17th, 1967

The Mayor named the members of The Vandenberg Center Sculpture Committee. This group oversaw the raising of matching funds, necessary before the project could begin. It also facilitated communication with the artist, coordinated the transport of the sculpture, and prepared the dedication celebration.

Aug. 24th, 1967

The Commissioning Panel assembled in Grand Rapids to select a sculptor. The internationally known American sculptor Alexander Calder was selected, though his name wass not yet revealed.

Aug. 25h, 1967

William Hartmann, architect from Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, flew to Calder’s European home and studio in Sache’, France to present the commission to Calder.

Sept. 8th-9th, 1967

Sept. 8th. Hartmann cabled that Calder agreed.
Sept. 9th. A letter from Hartmann stated that the cost would be $100,000 plus expenses of approximately $50,000. This was twice the amount anticipated to match the NEA grant.

Sept. 21st, 1967

The Grand Rapids Foundation announced a $10,000 grant. In order to prepare a more exact budget, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, site of Calder’s monumental 1966 sculpture “La Grande Voil” was contacted. Additional estimates on construction costs were obtained from U.S. Nickel Co. The revised budget was $127,900.

Nov. 10th, 1967

Calder's name was released to the media as the artist chosen for the project.

Dec. 19th, 1967

William Seidman of the Committee, Bob Blaich, Mulnix and Hartmann met with the Calders in New York. The formal announcement of Calder’s new commission was given to the World

Feb. 22nd, 1968

Feb. 22nd. A fundraising reception for Calder was held at the Grand Rapids Art Museum sponsored by the Women's Committee. Calder, along with Klaus Perls of Perls New York gallery, donated a Calder's gouache painting, “Astral Bodies”, to be sold and 700 people pledged a total of $5,700.

March 6th, 1968

The contract between Grand Rapids, Kent County and Calder was signed. The necessary funds of over $75,000 was pledged, with the largest pledge coming from the Keeler Foundation. It is said that Peter Wege personally pledged whatever else was needed. The City Commission voted unanimously to proceed. The Kent County Board of Commissioners voted 64 yes, 7 no.

April 3rd, 1968

The $45,000 check arrived from NEA.

May 11th, 1968

The “Visiting Committee”, a group including members of the Vandenberg Center Sculpture Committee, the Commissioning Panel, and their spouses, visited Calder in France. While debates concerning the sculpture continued to rage in Grand Rapids, Calder had already completed the design. An eight-foot scale model had been constructed which the visitors viewed at the Biemont Foundry in Tours, France. Calder called the sculpture “La Grande Vitesse”. The name means “the great swiftness”, or “Grand Rapids”. Calder gave a second gouache painting to sell as a fundraiser.

Below are some members of the Vanderberg Center Sculpture Committee, plus others assisting with the project. They are shown with the new County & City Buildings of Vandenberg Center behind them.
Image from the Nancy Mulnix Collection.

Photo Identifications left to right

Alexander Calder, below, was the son and grandson of famous Philadelphia sculptors. By the time the Grand Rapids project came along, Sandy Calder was considered one of the greatest living sculptors, better know for his mobiles, than his monumental stabiles, such as La Grande Vitesse.
Image from the Nancy Mulnix Collection.

Shown below is Calder, center, with William Hartmann at his right. This view is in Calder's studio during a 1968 visit by members of the Committee and the Commissioning Panel, to approve the La Grande Vitesse model. Hartmann sought high quality sculpture, such as the Picasso he brought to Chicago, to “ornament” the stark lines of his firm’s International Style buildings.
Image from the Nancy Mulnix Collection.

It is said that Alexander Calder planned his sculpture based upon information and images supplied him about the site by the local and Chicago architects, engineers and planners. Then, he planned the sculpture specifically for the context of the two new Skidmore, Owings and Merrill International Style buildings seated behind the sculpture. The view above to the East shows the opposite view, taken from one of the upper floors of the new City Building, near the end of its construction. The open landscape across Ottawa Street is now enclosed by later building.
Image from the Robinson Studio Photographs Collection

Above, Nancy Mulnix meets Alexander Calder for the first time at Perls Gallery in New York, Dec. 1967. They became good friends during the Vandenberg Center Sculpture Project. Klaus Perls, seen below, managed the business side of the project for Calder, working with Mulnix and other local officials.
Image from the Nancy Mulnix Collection






At left is the 8-foot model or maquette that Grand Rapids representatives viewed for approval during their May 1968 visit. This model went through wind tunnel and stress tests before construction of the final sculpture. Seen at the base of the red maquette is the small maquette that Calder later shipped to Grand Rapids with the actual pieces of the sculpture.
Image from the Nancy Mulnix Collection

At right is a later view by an unknown photographer from the Nancy Mulnix Collection. The Vandenberg Center Sculpture Project and the Calder sculpture were not without their critics, and the lively public dialogue was one of the contributing factors to the success of the project. Project planners hoped the sculpture would motivate citizens to come back downtown. In the view above, a stage has been set for an event, and the many events held at what is now called the Calder Plaza, do continue to bring Grand Rapids citizens to the city center. As hoped, the sculpture has served all its citizens as a gathering place for celebration and communication, without regard to race, religion, creed or economic level.

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