Since 1969 this plaza has been anchored by La Grande Vitesse, The Grand Swiftness, Alexander Calder's forty-two-ton abstract stabile rising above you. The title is a bilingual pun: vitesse means speed in French, and the Grand in Grand Rapids shares its root with the Grand River that runs a few blocks west. Calder, grandson of the sculptor who made the William Penn statue atop Philadelphia City Hall and son of another famous sculptor, was already world-famous for his mobiles and stabiles when the National Endowment for the Arts funded this commission, the first major NEA public art grant in the country.
The city was so proud of it that the bright vermilion shape became the logo of Grand Rapids, stamped on city vehicles and letterhead for decades. Some residents thought the abstract hulk was an eyesore when it arrived. Then they claimed it completely.
Today the plaza surrounding it hosts the Wednesday farmers' market and ArtPrize installations every fall, and the stabile's legs frame one of the best views of City Hall.