Wall: Texas sunset red granite; Benches: Mt. Airy white granite, Pennsylvania black granite, Salisbury pink granite, Concord cedar rose granite, Kershaw pink rose granite, Georgia gray granite, Texas red granite; Plaza: brick
Administered by State of North Carolina North Carolina Arts Council 221 East Lane Street Raleigh North Carolina 27601
Located North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Building Government Mall West side of building Raleigh North Carolina
Date:
Commissioned May 3, 1990. Dedicated Sept. 22, 1993
Notes:
Save Outdoor Sculpture, North Carolina survey, 1994.
Image on file.
Gazette (Gastonia, NC), Aug. 23, 1992.
(Lower right corner of wall in script:) Pratt 88 (illegible) ARP (Label sandblasted on wall:) Vernon Pratt/American, b. 1940/with writer Georgann Eubanks/EDUCATION WALL 1992/sandblasted granites, stone colorants/Artworks for State Buildings Collections signed
The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.
Summary:
The installation consists of a red granite wall sandblasted with words and other symbols representing the thoughts of North Carolinians about education and the different ways knowledge can be conveyed, such as through music, art, and science. In addition, eight benches with education-related text are placed in a plaza in front of the wall. Benches include text from 1912 speech by Governor Charles B. Aycock; poem by George Moses Horton; quote from Fred Chappell's "Child in the Fog;" quote from Jonathan Daniels "Tar Heels;" lists of North Carolina writers and musicians; and tributes to Cherokee and Lumbee people.
