October 25, 1974 – Riding a 40-horse wagon,
following a parade of elephants, clowns and circus wagons, sculptor Alexander
Calder rides into the Loop to dedicate two sculptures. As Calder’s wagon stops at the Dirksen
Federal Building Plaza at Dearborn and Adams, architect Carter Manny, Jr. blows
a whistle and announces, “Ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages, I
present to the people the one and only Alexander the Great – Sandy Calder.” [Chicago
Tribune, October 26, 1974] The
sculptor and Mayor Richard J. Daley share a gigantic pair of scissors to cut
the rope surrounding the 53-foot-high Flamingo. In his remarks His Honor calls the Loop, “one
of the world’s largest outdoor museums for contemporary sculpture” before
naming Calder an honorary Chicago citizen.
Arthur Sampson, head of the General Services Administration that
commissioned the $350,000 sculpture, reads a letter from President Gerald Ford
that calls the Federal Center sculpture “a conspicuous milestone in the federal
government’s effort to create a better environment.” The entourage continues on to Sears Tower
where Calder sets in motion his 32-foot-high kinetic wall mural and delivers
his only speech of the day, saying, “Mr. Arthur Wood [the board chairman of
Sears, Roebuck & Company] wanted me to give it a name. So I thought of a name. I call it, ‘Mr. Wood’s Universe.’”
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