Note
Made to commemorate the installation of La Grande Vitesse. Mrs. Nancy Mulnix, member of the GVSC Friends of the Arts Committee, was responsible for persuading Calder to create the commemorative print to be given to GVSU to help raise funds for scholarships in the arts. This was the first time Calder made a print to commemorate one of his own stabiles. He waived commissions to help endowment. In gratitude, GVSU named a building for him.
La Grande Vitesse is a monumental stabile which was dedicated in Grand Rapids, Michigan on June 14, 1969. The stabile is the first piece of civic sculpture in the United States financed by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in Publiuc Places program and by matching private funds.
La Grande Vitesse is a magnificent piece of environmental sculpture Calder designed the stabile for this particular sire, counterbalancing the architectural elements of the complex of buildings and the form of the stabile, thereby creating a unique aesthetic whole.
Expanded Wall Label:
Most famous for his sculptures and mobiles, Alexander Calder was commissioned to create La Grand Vitesse or The Great Swiftness, a 43' x 54' x 30' sculpture for Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1967 as the first public artwork funded through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Calder was persuaded to create this commemorative print to be given to Grand Valley State College (now GVSU) to help raise funds for scholarships in the arts.