Tilted Arc at Foley Square

Artist: Richard Serra

Commissioner: GSA Art in Architecture & Fine Arts Collection

Date: Installed, 1981; Removed, Mar 15, 1989

Removed after a lengthy and very public battle and court case pitting Richard Serra against the GSA over artists rights to their installed 'site-specific' works.

A controversy developed over the artwork by Richard Serra commissioned for the plaza in front of the building, Tilted Arc. Commissioned in 1979 and built in 1981, it was criticized both for its aesthetic values and for security reasons. It was removed in 1989, which resulted in a lawsuit and a trial. The piece remains in storage, as the artwork was site-specific, and the artist does not want it displayed in any other location. The removal and trial led to the creation of the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990.