To punctuate the end of this Trumpful week, join me in lauding the original New York Appellate Division Beaux-Arts courthouse, at the corner of Madison Avenue and 25th Street. It was built between 1896 and 1899, designed by James Brown Lord in an Italian Renaissance Revival style incorporating tall columns, a high base and flat walls. A team of 16 sculptors, led by Daniel Chester French (known for his iconic Abraham Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.), created an awesome display of metaphoric figures. But it is Frederick Wellington Ruckstull’s two masterful works that sit as though guarding the steps leading to the entrance that intently capture my interest every time. Ruckstull titled one Force, as it dons armor resembling a Roman Centurion. The other, Wisdom, has stern features reminiscent of Moses, with a giant book open to extra-large pages on his lap.
I frequently pass by this architectural anomaly so reminiscent of Rome. I always stare admiringly at the impressive statues. Yet until yesterday I failed to notice the inscription on Wisdom, which is particularly apt given the current wave of Executive Orders streaming from the Oval Office. The wisdom of issuing so many decrees is questionable at best and “a menace” at worst. Yet seeing the phrase “Every Law Not Based on WISDOM is a Menace to the State” gives me a modicum of hope that wisdom will eventually prevail.
EXTRA: Last night, when I was writing this, I read the following in Hyperallergic.
“Yesterday, when I started getting frantic messages from friends working at museums and organizations that had just received grant termination notices from the National Endowment for the Humanities, I had one immediate, terrifying thought: How many culture jobs will these cuts affect? After all, these grants fund not just “projects” but the salaries of people, real people — independent curators, educators, contractors, scholars, fellows. . . .” — Valentina Di Liscia
Where is the wisdom in cutting funding for the arts, no matter how “off agenda” museums and art institutes may be with the Administration’s rewriting the American narrative?
The post The Daily Heller: The Rule of Law is Not Set in Stone appeared first on PRINT Magazine.