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Doors of Memory and Doors of Kansas, (sculpture)

Catalog Data

Sculptor:
Frazier, Bernard 1906-1976  Search this
Founder:
Diaz Foundry  Search this
Medium:
Bronze
Culture:
Indian  Search this
Type:
Sculptures-Door
Sculptures
Owner/Location:
Administered by University of Kansas Office of Capital Programs 351 Strong Hall Lawrence Kansas 66045
Located University of Kansas War Memorial Campanile Lawrence Kansas 66045
Date:
Commissioned 1949. 1952. Dedicated June 6, 1955. Two panels recast 1970
Notes:
Save Outdoor Sculpture, Kansas survey, 1994.
Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985.
Image on file.
Kansas City Times, June 7, 1955.
(On top of Aspiration plate on south doors, in cursive:) Bernard Frazier/sculptor/1952 Fondido-E. Ortiz/Mexic-D.F. (On top of south doors:) CEDANT ARMA, HUMANITATI (Along the figures:) ACHIEVEMENT COURAGE ASPIRATION SORROW MEDITATION SILENCE (On top of north doors:) AD ASTA PER ASPERA (Along the figures:) FAITH WORSHIP INVESTIGATION EDUCATION EQUALITY FREEDOM HOMEMAKER PIONEER PLAINSMAN SCOUT EXPLORER NATIVE signed Founder's mark appears.
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:
Twelve bronze relief plaques mounted on two sets of doors on the south and north sides of the World War II Memorial Campanile. On the South doors (Doors of Memory, Let Arms Yield to Humanity), there are two figures for each idea. The ideas are silence, meditation, sorrow, aspiration, courage and achievement. The North doors (Doors of Kansas, To the Stars thru Difficulties) are divided into two themes. The right door is History and the left door is Idealism.
On the North doors, the three right hand panels, reading upward, depict the native Indian and Coronado, the explorer; the scout who was hunter, trapper and trail maker, with the plainsman, who represents trail-driving, cattle and frontier life; the pioneer settler, holding a plant and pitchfork, and the homemaker with a child held aloft. The left panel represents the ideas for which the state struggled. At the bottom is freedom and equality - a slave with broken chains, and a woman who has won equal rights. In the top panel, a figure with a cross represents religious freedom and another reaching to the stars represents faith and confidence in the future. Chaffs of wheat are depicted on the door hinges and handles.
Topic:
History--United States--World War II  Search this
History--United States--Westward Expansion  Search this
Figure group  Search this
Allegory--Arts & Sciences--History  Search this
Allegory--Arts & Sciences--Education  Search this
Allegory--Civic--Liberty  Search this
Allegory--Passion--Grief  Search this
Allegory--Quality--Fortitude  Search this
Allegory--Quality--Faith  Search this
Allegory--Quality--Hope  Search this
Allegory--Other--Thought  Search this
Allegory--Other--Triumph  Search this
Occupation--Other--Pioneer  Search this
Allegory--Senses--Hearing  Search this
Ethnic  Search this
Occupation--Hunter  Search this
Occupation--Other--Explorer  Search this
Control number:
IAS 77002798
Data Source:
Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_ari_21316