From a distance, this piece looks like a ship made of sticks and twigs. As one walks closer, one realized it is human figures, stacked as cord wood, slaves packed tightly onto a ship on a 'Journey' that would change their lives forever. Naturally, this has quickly become a very controversial piece since it reminds us of a horrid part of human history; and that slavery that continues to this day. The piece is by Denver artist Michael Brohman (
visit link) .
Research of this piece has demonstrated the journey the sculpture has taken itself. The piece was in Colorado Springs by the former El Paso County court house which is now the Pioneer History museum. Discussion of the sculpture and surrounding controversy may be found in this article (
visit link) . Obviously, the sculpture is no longer in Colorado Springs; it is on Auraria Campus in Denver where the artist is on staff.
A heated blog post (of which I only link for the information about the sculpture - not to open further discussion of social problems) provides greater detail about the sculpture and the artist and the reaction of the community (
visit link) .