Ceres - Chicago, IL - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

From the Arts inventory site:
Highly stylized, full-length figure, actually an amalgam of 40 sections of geometric cast aluminum shapes. Her face is an oval without features, the folds of the gown are sharply cut parallel sections. Her proper left hand holds a sheaf of grain and her proper right hand grasps what is believed to be a bag of money. The figure is installed atop the pyramidal roof of the forty-five story Board of Trade building.


From TIME magazine Monday, Jun. 16, 1930
"To Rome its milk-giving she-wolf, to crumbling Athens its Pallas Athene. The goddess of Chicago is Ceres, deity of grain, harvest, plenty. Last week a glittering aluminum Ceres took her place on the city's skyline, poising her twinkling magnificence on top of Chicago's tallest office pylon, the new 44-story, 609 ft. Board of Trade building.* Designed by Sculptor John H. Storrs, Ceres of Chicago went up to her perch in 40 pieces and was hurriedly assembled, a bit late for the Boards opening day ceremonies."

Learn more about the sculptor John Storrs here: (visit link)

I am grateful to waymarker CHI-TOWN ROMEO for his great aerial photo of Ceres.

TITLE: Ceres ARTIST(S): Storrs, John Bradley H., 1885-1956, sculptor. DATE: 1930. MEDIUM: Cast Aluminum. CONTROL NUMBER: IAS 87580009 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: High atop the Chicago Board of Trade Building. Go to 141 W. Jackson in downtown Chicago, walk north several hundred feet along LaSalle Street, turn and face south, then look up at the top (45 stories) of the Board of Trade Building! DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: none

Visit Instructions:
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