Code,920021
Subject,Harvey Buchanan
Date,9/8/2009
Interviewer,Nina Gibans
Abstract,"Harvey Buchanan, Case Western Reserve professor emeritus of art history, is the Director of the John and Mildred Putnam Sculpture Collection which consists of over 30 pieces of art scattered around University Circle, mostly on the Case Western Reserve University campus. The Collection began in 1981 with the establishment of a permanent endowment at the university funded by Mildred Putnam and her son Peter Putnam. In this 2009 interview, Buchanan discusses the creation of the endowment and his experiences as Director of the Putnam Collection.  In addition, he describes several of the collection's pieces in detail and provides some biographical information on Peter Putnam."
Special Notes,
minutes:,
0,Intro
1,Comes to Cleveland in 1952 to the Case Institute of Technology
2,Division of Humanities and Social Sciences
3,"1968, Federation of CWRU, becomes Asst. Dean of Humanities and Arts, then Provost"
4,
5,
6,Monuments in University Circle had been under the care of the Art Museum
7,There was little public art in UC when he first came to Case
8,One Western Reserve Campus there was the Painter Arch designed by Schweinforth
9,"In 1980, Peter Putnam calls Buchanan"
10,Putnam offered to fund a sculpture at CWRU
11,
12,"Gene Kangus, a Cleveland born sculptor, is chosen as the artist"
13,The sculpture eventually was placed between Twing Hall and the Mather House
14,"Putnam wanted to commission several sculptures. In 1981, Mrs. Putnam created an endowment for this"
15,Mildred Andrews fund set up by Mrs. Putnam; Putnam family history
16,"Son John Jr. fought in WW II, died in England"
17,Other son Peter was a scientist
18,"Also worked trading stocks, died in an accident in 1987"
19,
20,Creation of Putnam Sculpture Collection in Princeton
21,
22,
23,"1981-1987, the Mildred Andrews fund is used for sculptures in UC"
24,"Today, there are 45 sculptures in UC as part of this project"
25,
26,Turning Point (1996) and Putnam Gardens are commemorative pieces
27,Sculpture at E. 118 St - by Fleischman - is dedicated to Mildred
28,"Fleischman designed all the features of this public space, not just the sculpture"
29,"Until Peter Putnam's death, contributing artists were restricted to having to be from Cleveland"
30,"This is ""regional sculpture,"" but both words are loosely defined; Peter Putnam did not want committees"
31,
32,"Karamu House wanted money from the fund, but got a work of art instead"
33,
34,The endowment's interpretation has been left up to Buchanan
35,
36,Putnam offered unlimited Athena Takaas sculptures
37,
38,"The sculpture ""emerging"" has been refurbished thanks to the endowment"
39,No funds in the endowment specifically were meant for maintaining the collection
40,
41,Description of how art for the collection is chosen - there is a committee
42,A few people - including the director of the Art Museum - help oversee the Putnam Collection
43,
44,
45,"The number of sculptures added per year varies, as do the locations"
46,Physics building received a sculpture after requesting one
47,
48,
49,
50,
51,
52,
53,
54,
55,"""A very diverse collection"" that represents a selection of local sculptors"
56,
57,"In order to maintain the quality of the collection, they had to look for sculptors outside of Cuyahoga County, despite Putnam's original wishes"
58,"The artists sought out, though, still need to have a collection to the ""region"""
59,An avoidance of site-specific works due to the constant changing land-usage in UC
60,
61,Description of how decisions are made as to where sculptures are placed
62,
63,End
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