American Song

Commissioned by the US General Service Administration's Art in Architecture Program.

This sculpture is Lynds’ tribute to the history of the site and to all people who strive for freedom. It is an embodiment of American independence; by night, the sculpture is transformed by lighting effects that add visual radiance to the idea of freedom. America Song is a relief sculpture sited at the building’s main entrance. The cast concrete is embedded with fiber optics, which in the evening emit moving light across the surface of the image. Sandblasted on stone below the sculpture is the poem I want to be free/Want to be free,/Rainbow’ round my shoulder/Wings on my feet, written by an anonymous African poet.