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Artist/Creator (1)	Segal, George (1924-2000)
Artist/Creator (1).Nationality	American
Artist/Creator (1).Role	artist, sculptor
Artist/Creator (2)	Johnson Atelier
Artist/Creator (2).Role	foundry
Artist/Creator (3)	Winslow, Philip N.
Artist/Creator (3).Role	landscape architect
Title/Caption	Gay Liberation
Date of Work	1980. Dedicated June 23, 1992
Description of View	Overall view of sculpture in Orton Park, Madison, WI
Notes	[Located in Christopher Park, Christopher Street between Stonewall Place and West 4th Street, New York, NY.] Previous Location: Orton Park bordered by Spaight, Pew, Rutledge, and Ingersoll Streets, Madison, WI, from 1986 to 1991. Sponsor/Developer: Commissioned by the Mildred Andres Fund, [on loan to the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art from 1986 to 1991. Installed in Christopher Park, New York in 1992.] Project Description: The piece is a sympathetic and perceptive view of two couples, one male and the other female, seated on and standing in front of a park bench. Through simple gestures and everyday dress, they express the personal regard they have for each other. In the words of Sam Hunter, this artwork '...commemorates the struggle for recognition of a persecuted minority.' The work depicts two homosexual couples, one male, one female, who touch in a tender, affectionate way, and whose gestures carry the meaning of the entire work. Segal said: 'The sculpture concentrates on tenderness, gentleness and sensitivity as expressed in gesture. It makes the delicate point that gay people are as feeling as anyone else.' [The following project history was written by the vendor Art On File before the sculpture 'Gay Liberation' was installed in its originally planned location in Christopher Park, New York.] Project History: In 1979, George Segal was commissioned by the Mildred Andres Fund to create a sculpture honoring the gay-rights movement. The commission specified that the work '...had to be loving and caring, and show the affection that is the hallmark of gay people -- it could not be ambiguous about that.... And it had to have equal representation of men and women.' A site was selected in New York's Greenwich Village, the heart of New York's gay community. Visiting the site, Segal conceived a monument that would be appropriate for a neighborhood where he saw 'young mothers pushing strollers.' He rejected the idea of sexually explicit imagery, and chose instead to depict two homosexual couples, one male and the other female, displaying affection towards each other. The artwork was intended as a gift to the city of New York by the Mildred Andres Fund, but it first required approval by a plethora of civic organization and city bureaucracies. It encountered resistance almost from the very beginning, not only from groups that found the work morally repungnant, but from gay-rights organizations as well. Some critics suggested that the work was 'wildly inappropriate to the architecture of the neighborhood,' and that it would attract an influx of crowds and tour buses into the district. Gay leaders complained that the sculptor ought to have been a homosexual selected by the gay community, and that the sculpture was too narrow in its depiction of gay personalities. One gay politician said the figures were 'cruising clones' and 'grotesque stereotypes.' The artwork was never permanently sited because of the controversy which surrounded it. It is currently on loan to the Madison Art Center [Madison Museum of Contemporary Art]. [For further information on this sculpture see the Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS) entry on Gay Liberation, (sculpture). http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1VN6336431768.2126andprofile=ariallandsource=~!siartinventoriesandview=subscriptionsummaryanduri=full=3100001~!319207~!1andri=1andaspect=Keywordandmenu=searchandipp=20andspp=20andstaffonly=andterm=segalandindex=.AWanduindex=andoper=andterm=gayandindex=.TWanduindex=andaspect=Keywordandmenu=searchandri=1 ]
Technique/Process	sculpture, metalworking, casting
Materials/Medium	bronze, painted white
Dimensions	4 figures. Overall dimensions: ca. 71 x 192 x 80 in.
Century	20th Century
Location.Current Site/City & Country	New York, New York (United States)
Location.Current Repository	Christopher Park
Location.Former Site/City & Country	Madison, Wisconsin (United States)
Location.Former Repository	Orton Park
Subject	Sculpture, American Sculpture, 20th Century Public art Figures, female Figures, male Gay couples
Publisher	ART on FILE
Publisher.Location	ART on FILE. 1837 East Shelby St. Seattle, Washington 98112 (United States). www.artonfile.com
Set/Project Title	New Directions in Public Art: Part IV
Reference Number	Art on File PAIV-43(4)-1
Collection Title	Sculpture (Art and Art History Department images)
Collection Information	Collection administered by Visual Resources manager, Architecture Library (402) 472-1193
Copyright Information	http://contentdm.unl.edu/ah_copyright.html

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