Field of Corn explained

Field of Corn (with Osage Orange Trees) is a publicly-funded art installation in the city of Dublin, Ohio. The installation consists of 109 concrete ears of corn positioned in rows and standing upright in a grassy field. At one end of the field are two rows of Osage-orange trees, one pre-existing and the other planted for the project. Sculpted by Malcolm Cochran,^[1] with landscaping by Stephen Drown and James Hiss, Field of Corn was commissioned by the Dublin Arts Council and completed in 1994.^[2]

The display site, named the Sam and Eulalia Frantz Park, was originally farmed by Sam Frantz, an inventor of several hybrid corn species, and was donated to the city in the late twentieth century. The art installation is partly a tribute to Sam Frantz and is also intended to remind visitors of Dublin's agricultural heritage. Along the west side of the park, near the Osage orange trees, are signs that describe the project and explain hybridization.^[3]

Three different molds were used to cast the concrete ears of corn, which stand about 6 feet (1.8 m) tall.^[4] The breed of corn represented is known as Corn Belt Dent Corn, a double-cross hybrid variety. The ears are rotated in several directions to make it appear as if each ear is unique.They were cast at a precast concrete manufacturer, Cook & Ingle Co., in Dalton, Georgia. Each ear weighs 1500lbs^[5]

Field of Corn has become a popular piece of public art in the Central Ohio Community. The display received "Best of Columbus" honors by readers of Columbus Monthly magazine each year of its nomination since 2008, including four #1 awards as best public artwork in central Ohio.^[6]

Further reading

• Web site: Nicola . Twilley . February 10, 2011 . Feast Your Eyes: The Concrete Corn Field of Dublin, Ohio . Good .
• Web site: Doug . Buchanan . October 5, 2012 . Field of Corn in Dublin under wraps while undergoing restoration . Columbus Business First .
• Web site: Field of Corn . Ohio Outdoor Sculpture Inventory .
• Book: Zurcher, Neil . 2008 . More Big Ears . https://books.google.com/books?id=99c4dr5D6oAC&pg=PA15 . 15–6 . Ohio Oddities: A Guide to the Curious Attractions of the Buckeye State . Gray & Company, Publishers . 978-1-59851-047-8.
• Hurd . Mary K. . 1995 . Artist Chooses Precast Concrete for Field of Corn . 30–3 .
• Judith Smith . Koroscik . Spring 1995 . Guest Editorial: Letters to the Editor: The Public's Disclosure of How They Understand the Arts . Studies in Art Education . 36 . 3 . 131–3 . 10.2307/1320904 . 1320904 .
• Hogue . Beverly J. . 2008 . From Mulberries to Machines: Planting the Simulated Garden . Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment . 15 . 1 . 101–10 . 10.1093/isle/15.1.101 .
• Carol . Argiro . July 2004 . Instructional Resources: Teaching with Public Art . Art Education. 57 . 4 . 25–32 . 10.1080/00043125.2004.11653556 . 3194122 . 190086684 .

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Notes and References

1. David . Raskin . May 2000 . Malcolm Cochran at the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art . Art in America . 88 . 5 . 171.
2. Web site: Ecological Design: Malcolm Cochran, Field of Corn (with Osage Orange) . Don . Krug . Art & Ecology: Perspectives and Issues.
3. Hurd . Mary K. . 1995 . Artist Chooses Precast Concrete for Field of Corn . 30–3 .
4. Web site: Seven Questions with "Field of Corn" Artist Malcolm Cochran. Ghose. Dave. Columbus Monthly. en. 2019-10-31.
5. Web site: field of corn (with osage oranges) . Dublin Arts Council.
6. https://dublinarts.org/featured-items/fieldofcorn/?portfolioCats=94 Field of Corn (with Osage Orange Trees) | Dublin Arts Council