Close-up of the bronze female figure from "Freedom of the Human Spirit" in Shain Park
Animal sculpture--20th century. Bronze sculpture, American--20th century. Figure sculpture, American--20th century. Fredericks, Marshall M., 1908-1998 Outdoor sculpture--United States. Public sculpture, American
The businessmen backers of the 1964-65 New York Worldâ€™s Fair aspired to produce an economic boom for the city that would rival the hugely successful New York Worldâ€™s Fair of 1939-40 that brought more than 44 million visitors to the city. Many of these planners, kids during the â€™39-40 Fair, hoped that the experience would be as memorable for their children and families has it had been for them. Dedicated to â€œManâ€™s Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe,â€ the Fairâ€™s theme was â€œPeace through Understanding.â€ The Fairâ€™s Sculpture Committee requested that Marshall Fredericks submit a proposal for a sculpture to be included at the event. Fredericks submitted several sketches and the Committee selected a sketch of two figures with swans. Originally the figures in the sketch had wings, but the review panel requested that Fredericks remove them in the final sculpture. According to the artist, the sculpture â€œdepicts human figures as if soaring in migratory flights with huge swans, an ancient symbol of eternal life.â€ One of four major sculptures at the Fair, the sculpture stood in the Court of States at the entrance of the U S Government Pavilion. This marked the second time Fredericks contributed a sculpture to a New York Worldâ€™s Fair, as he previously exhibited a fountain at the 1939 Fair. The Freedom of the Human Spirit still stands at its original location in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens borough. In 1983, Fredericks donated the design for this sculpture to his adopted hometown of Birmingham, Michigan in honor of the cityâ€™s fiftieth anniversary. Erected in Shain Park, the city financed the sculpture through generous donations from over one thousand individuals and corporations. In 2009, the city of Birmingham renovated the park and relocated the sculpture to an area in the center of the park. A small-scale casting of Freedom of the Human Spirit also serves as the annual Communications Award for the International Center for the Disabled (ICD), an organization of which Fredericks was a longtime benefactor.
Marshall M. Fredericks Papers Series V, Box 13 Folder 14
Use of this image requires permission from the Marshall M. Fredericks Archives.
Close-up of bronze swan from "Freedom of the Human Spirit" in Shain Park
"Freedom of the Human Spirit" in Shain Park
View of bronze female figure and swans from "Freedom of the Human Spirit" in Shain Park
Front/side view of "Freedom of the Human Spirit" in Shain Park
"Freedom of the Human Spirit" in Shain Park - front view
Close-up view of the bronze female figure and swans from "Freedom of the Human Spirit" in Shain Park
Bronze full scale "Freedom of the Human Spirit" in Shain Park
Animal sculpture--20th century. Fredericks, Marshall M., 1908-1998 Limestone sculpture Outdoor sculpture--United States. Public sculpture, American
Fredericks first completed Siberian Ram in 1941, but a 24-inch tall sculpture installed in 1966 at the rose garden of the Henry Ford estate in Dearborn, Michigan is the first documented bronze cast. Fredericks carved a Siberian Ram in limestone on commission for the Birmingham-Bloomfield Bank which in 1972 donated the 30-inch tall stone sculpture to the Baldwin Public Library in Birmingham, Michigan. In the late 1980s, Fredericks made molds from that sculpture and cast bronzes for his personal collection and for the museum. He created the 9-inch tall reduction in the mid-1990s.
Marshall Fredericks and others view "Freedom of the Human Spirit" in Shain Park