_B218834, photo by ramjetgr.

I was in the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art on Wednesday and saw some whimsical sculptures and mobiles by Alexander Calder. It didn’t seem like the delicate structures could have come from the same hand. Turns out they did. The Alexander Calder entry on Wikipedia explains:

Alexander Calder (22 July 1898 – 11 November 1976), also known as Sandy Calder, was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing the mobile. In addition to mobile and stabile sculpture, Alexander Calder also created paintings, lithographs, toys, tapestry and jewelry.

…In June 1969, Calder attended the dedication of his monumental stabile “La Grande Vitesse” located in the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan. This sculpture is notable for being the first public work of art in the United States to be funded with federal monies; acquired with funds granted from the then new National Endowment for the Arts under its “Art for Public Places” program.

You can get up close with La Grande Vitesse at West Michigan Sculptures (includes a cool 360 degree walk around) and also check out the Calder slideshow from Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr. You can also read this article about the dedication from the National Endowment of the Arts.

Be sure to check this out bigger or in his Grand Rapids 09 set (slideshow)