Artwork Details
- Title
- Gift of the Winds
- Artist
- Joseph C. Bailey (1937 – 1994)
- Year
- 1978; relocated 2020-2021
- Medium
- Stainless steel and manganese bronze, on brick planter base
- Dimensions
- Height 17′; width 10′; depth 10′ (base height 4′)
Artwork Description
The leaf-like forms of Joseph Bailey’s Gift of the Winds consist of mirror-polished steel around a core of manganese bronze. On two of the surfaces, curving shapes that suggest natural forms such as roots or tendrils are cut into the steel to reveal the bronze beneath, and the central “leaf” is positioned so that it reflects these images on both sides.
In this work, commissioned for the entrance of a bank building as part of the Redevelopment Authority’s Percent for Art program, Bailey wanted to link the geometry of the architecture with the park-like setting of nearby Independence Mall; thus he used hard-edged metal forms to suggest organic shapes. Trees were planted close to the sculpture so that the leaves would reflect in the steel surfaces. People approaching the sculpture can see themselves reflected as well.
As part of the renovations on site for the new Faith and Liberty Discovery Center, which opened in May 2021, Gift of the Winds was relocated to another side of the building, along a “contemplative garden” path with seating between 4th and 5th Streets.
Content on this page was adapted from Public Art in Philadelphia by Penny Balkin Bach (Temple University Press, 1992). Bach was the longtime Executive Director of the Association for Public Art, working with the organization from 1980 to 2022.
Artwork Credits
Commissioned by the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority
Owned by the property owner