Cornhenge

Concrete Corn

Cornhenge is a slang reference to a publicly funded art installation in the city of Dublin, Ohio. The installation, officially named Field of Corn (with Osage Orange Trees), consists of 109 concrete ears of corn positioned in rows and standing upright in a grassy field. At one end of the field are two rows of Osage-orange trees, one pre-existing and the other planted for the project. Sculpted by Malcolm Cochran^[1] and with landscaping by Stephen Drown and James Hiss, the field of corn was commissioned by the Dublin Arts Council and completed in 1994.^[2]

The display site, named the Sam and Eulalia Frantz Park, was originally farmed by Sam Frantz, an inventor of several hybrid corn species, and was donated to the city in the late twentieth century. The art installation is partly a tribute to Sam Frantz and is also intended to remind visitors of Dublin's agricultural heritage. Along the west side of the park, near the Osage orange trees, are signs that describe the project and explain hybridization.

Three different molds were used to cast the concrete ears of corn, which stand about 8 feet (2 m) tall. The breed of corn represented is known as Corn Belt Dent Corn, a double-cross hybrid variety.

Soon after completion, the art installation became a target for criticism, joking, and creative pranks, such as painting portions of the sculptures. Due to its odd setting in the shadow of business parks, and having been funded by tax money, the display was given the nickname Cornhenge by the public.

References

1. ^ David Raskin "Malcolm Cochran at the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art - Brief Article." Art in America. FindArticles.com. Accessed 1 April 2009. [1]
2. ^ Greenmuseum.org, 2006, accessed 1 April 2009 [2]