PHILADELPHIA, PA — A survey of 2,000 Americans has ranked Philadelphia’s iconic “Clothespin” sculpture as the sixth ugliest piece of public art in the country, while another Pennsylvania installation, Pittsburgh’s “Walking to the Sky,” also made the list at number 79.
Commissioned in 1976 and created by Claes Oldenburg, the 45-foot Cor-Ten steel “Clothespin” stands outside City Hall as one of Philadelphia’s most recognizable works of modern art. Intended as a playful take on a household object, the sculpture has long divided opinion. Critics in the survey said its sheer size and industrial finish leave it feeling cold and bureaucratic rather than whimsical.
The national ranking was compiled by Rivers Art, a fine-art printing provider, which asked Americans to identify the most unattractive public works. Topping the list was Alabama’s Boll Weevil Monument, followed by “Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks” in New Haven, Connecticut, and Seattle’s “Wall of Death.”
Pittsburgh’s “Walking to the Sky,” installed at Carnegie Mellon University in 2006, was also singled out. The 100-foot stainless steel pole, dotted with life-size figures climbing toward the sky, was conceived as a tribute to ambition and human potential. Instead, many respondents called its figures stiff and its presence awkward, describing the work as more puzzling than inspiring.
“Public art is always a gamble — what one generation sees as bold or symbolic can, over time, be viewed as baffling or even ugly,” said Tony Gilbert of Rivers Art. “What’s fascinating about these results is that every piece on the list has become iconic in its own right. Even when the public groans, the artwork still sparks conversation — and that, in a way, is its own kind of success.”
The survey’s findings reflect the polarizing nature of public art, which can alternately inspire pride or provoke scorn, yet rarely leaves communities indifferent.
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