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Title
Gratis and Aegis
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Artist
Jonathan Stiles
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Location
1625 South University Blvd
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Neighborhood
Wash Park
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Year
2006
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Artwork Type
Public Sculpture
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Material
steel (alloy)
About This Piece
“Aegis”, located outdoors, is designed to remember and celebrate those who paid the ultimate price protecting the innocent. Made of steel and aluminum, the sculpture is a rising arc symbolizing a wing of protection police officers give to the community. There are aluminum discs, which spin kinetically in the wind. Each disc symbolizes officers who have fallen protecting the innocent. The wind itself is a metaphor for the continuing memory of each, which never dies.
“Gratis”, located indoors, is a hanging sculpture dedicated to officers who are on duty at that very moment. Designed after the actual shield the officer wears, the piece hangs over all who enter symbolizing the protection offered by the officers. It uses the color tone of blue cloth and the brilliant silver of the badge. It is also formed around wood, a nod to the days of the wooden nightstick and walking the beat.