In 1981, Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc, a 15-ton, 120-foot-long sculpture made of Cor-ten steel, was installed in Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan. Commissioned by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), it was part of a government program allocating public art in federal spaces. The site-specific work, slightly tilted and designed to divide the plaza, was meant to engage pedestrians by disrupting the space. However, Tilted Arc faced strong opposition from local workers who argued it obstructed the plaza’s use. A petition of 1,300 signatures demanded its removal.

While some celebrated the sculpture as a bold contrast to the surrounding office buildings, others decried it as an eyesore. In 1985, after a public forum where both supporters and critics testified, the GSA voted to remove it. Serra, who had designed it with a strong connection to the space, argued that moving the work would destroy its integrity. Despite his protests, the sculpture was dismantled in 1989, and the steel remnants were stored in Brooklyn, later moved to Maryland.

The controversy led to legal changes: the GSA revised its policies to ensure public awareness of future art installations, and the 1990 Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) was passed, giving artists moral rights over their work. Serra considered Tilted Arc destroyed, viewing its removal as a violation of his artistic vision. Today, Federal Plaza has no monumental sculpture, only benches and landscaping, with Tilted Arc’s legacy as a symbol of art’s conflict with public space remaining.

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Based on Katie White’s article for Artnet