A permanent public art installation celebrating decisions made in York, PA
by the Second Continental Congress
Education • Celebration
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The project, melding history and contemporary art, will not attempt to tell the whole story of the Articles. Rather it is designed to greet people outdoors, to stimulate curiosity and interest, and to encourage viewers to learn more inside the York County History Center.
The sculpture’s job is twofold. It will celebrate the fact that in York the critically-needed agreements were finally adopted.
Second, it will educate Yorkers and visitors of all ages about the important role of the Articles, not only in creating the United States of America, but also in creating a new model of governance, never in the world attempted previously, in which “we the people” grant power to the leaders, rather than the leaders selectively exercising powers from above.
Concept
As now conceived, the Hard Bargains installation will consist of 13 stainless steel columns engaging viewers in a dynamic optical field of mirrors, colored glass, light, text panels and graphics, on a base 20
feet in diameter. The columns, one for each state, will incorporate portraits of key players, historical information, and quotations that highlight pivotal issues. Sites under study are all within the Codorus Corridor plan area now being drafted by the City, the Economic Alliance, Downtown Inc and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Sculptural model with 13 triangular stainless steel columns,
shown near one of several potential sculpture sites
Partners
Partnerships are underway. York County Community Foundation has established a separate Hard Bargains Maintenance Fund.
The Pennsylvania Council for the Social Studies has been asked to solicit participation by educators from each of the 13 original states, and state archivists will also be contacted.
As design details are developed, local artists will be invited to take on specific column components or to assist in other ways. York College computer engineering students will explore opportunities for interactive features.
Project Team
FISCAL SPONSOR The York County Bar Foundation is fiscal sponsor of the Hard Bargains project, and a prime partner is the York County History Center, upon whose land the sculpture is expected to be located. Spearheading the effort is a five-person group of York Countians who comprise the Hard Bargains leadership team: two former YorkCounts co-chairs Ernest Waters and Atty. Reed Anderson; long-time Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff employee Polly Stetler; United Way executive Robert Woods; and urbanist Genevieve Ray.
LEAD ARTIST Ross Miller is a Boston-area public artist, recognized for integrating art into spaces such as schools, center squares and Boston’s Big Dig. His collaborative work ranges from architectural scale installations to pedestrian scale sculptures. He won the prestigious Loeb Fellowship (Harvard Graduate School of Design). In York, his early work, including consultation with local artists and civic activists, brought the project through to concept stage.
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PROJECT MANAGER Genevieve Ray, also a Loeb Fellow, led Cincinnati’s historic preservation program and Cleveland’s Cuyahoga riverfront Oxbow district. In recent years in York, she was project manager for design, funding and development of the Gear Garden public art in Foundry Park, and she facilitated master planning for Recapture the Riverfront and the Beautiful York Action Plan.
Timeline, Budget & Sustainability
Funds have been raised for detailed research, design development, fabrication and installation.
Construction plans are underway, on land controlled by the York County History Center. Upon the Center’s formal acceptance of the art work, the Community Foundation will name the Center as beneficiary of the Maintenance Fund.
Going forward, the project will be managed consistent with the History Center’s long-term strategies and with the larger Codorus Corridor plan.
Confederation Sky,
Potential concept development
Hard Bargains sculpture