1996-97
The Manhole Cover Project: A Gun Legacy, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford CT
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The Manhole Cover Project: A Gun Legacy
Wadsworth Atheneum
Project Description: The Manhole Cover Project (1997) was organized to provide a contemporary counterpoint to Sam and Elizabeth: Legend and Legacy of Colt's Empire, an exhibition of artworks collected by Hartford gun manufacturer Samuel Colt. The Manhole Cover Project by artist Bradley McCallum was a collaborative public art project that responded to Hartford's past and also attempted to gain perspective on the current problem of gun violence in the city. McCallum did not pretend the project offered solutions to gun violence. Rather, its goal was to engage diverse audiences in the process of translating a pressing social problem into a meaningful set of cultural metaphors. With gun violence increasingly addressed as a public health issue and not simply a criminal justice issue, the Atheneum collaborated with Connecticut Childhood Injury Prevention Center of Connecticut Children's Medical Center to maximize the project's potential for education and prevention.
At the Wadsworth Atheneum, the project was represented by the exhibition of 228 custom-designed manhole covers weighing 32,216 pounds,
the exact equivalent to the weight of the 11,194 guns confiscated by Connecticut State Police since 1992. McCallum modified the design for the city's existing manhole cover pattern in two important ways. Each cover was emblazoned with the words
"MADE FROM 172 LBS OF YOUR CONFISCATED GUNS." McCallum intended the purposely vague pronoun "your" to suggest a sense of collective responsibility through the metaphor of collective ownership. Each cover also bears the Latin phrase Vincit Qui Patitur, the Colt family motto, alternately understood to mean "He Who Perseveres is Victorious" or "He Who Suffers Conquers." McCallum was drawn to the ambiguous meaning of the motto and how these once-romanticized notions of strength and suffering have changed over time. The manhole covers were displayed in a temporary outdoor installation at the museum before they were installed in the streets of Hartford, many destined for some of the most crime-ridden neighborhoods. The museum installation also included audio testimonies, collected by five Hartford students, from individuals whose lives had been affected by gun violence.
Civic Engagement/Dialogue: For four months, McCallum, under the supervision of the Connecticut Childhood Injury Prevention Center, led a team of local students identified by CCIPC in collecting oral stories from family members of victims of gun-related death; youth who had witnessed an act of gun violence or themselves had been shot; perpetrators of gun violence; and public health officials who deal with gun-related injury. Students went through intensive orientation and training with the artist and social service professionals before conducting interviews. At the end of the four months, students had spoken with more than seventy-five individuals and recorded twenty complete interviews.
Information Sources: Rondeau, James. The Manhole Cover Project: A Gun Legacy. (exhibition catalogue), Wadsworth Atheneum, 1996. Eiseman, Alberta. "Sam, Elizabeth and the Victims of Guns." The New York Times, Jan. 12, 1997.
Hartford, CT, Primary Artist(s):
Brad McCallum
