Process

Statistics

What is the profile of America's collection of outdoor sculpture and monuments?

The nearly 7,000 volunteers who identified America's collection of public sculpture and monuments reported approximately 32,000 artworks in 50 states and the District of Columbia. Those are being added to the Inventory of American Sculpture, which documents both indoor and outdoor sculpture. Surveys are underway in Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Marianas and American Samoa. News of recent commissions, previous omissions and change of location or condition for artworks, both good and bad, are welcomed.

Of the 32,000 artworks reported between 1990 and 1996, slightly more than half were judged to be in adequate or good condition. The balance needed treatment, some urgently. Since the data were collected a few years ago, it is reasonable to assume that some of sculptures determined to be in good shape may have slipped into the "uncared for" category. Conservators of outdoor sculpture validated the judgments of the volunteers in a study completed in June 1997.