NEA Statement-Section of Sidewalk from Paradise Garden
Howard Finster
American, 1916–2001
Details
Title
NEA Statement-Section of Sidewalk from Paradise Garden
Artist/Maker
Howard Finster (American, 1916–2001)
Date
1981
Medium
Concrete embedded with rocks, plastic, glass, marbles, ceramic and metal chain
Dimensions
3 x 41 x 62 1/2 inches
Credit
Purchase with funds from the Cousins Foundation, Inc. and donors to the Paradise Project Campaign
Accession #
1994.217
In 1981 Finster received the first grant the National Endowment for the Arts had ever awarded to a self-taught artist. Finster used it to buy a small abandoned church at the rear of Paradise Garden and to add more embellished sidewalks throughout the Garden. The building became The World’s Folk Art Church, an archetype of Paradise Garden. In this section of sidewalk Finster celebrates the award.