The Mudflat Sculptures were an ever-changing series of sculptures in the mudflats along I-80. The first were built in the early 1960s.
History
In 1960, some students from the California College of the Arts constructed a sculpture using driftwood and other found materials in the mudflats off Bay Farm Island in Alameda. John McCracken later saw photos of the sculpture, and decided to make some of his own in the Emeryville mudflats, beginning in 1964. The media, including Time magazine, did articles about the sculptures and asking if they were art, and that brought a lot more attention to them. 1
Links and References
Kenosha News 1966 2
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The History of the Mudflat Sculptures, The E'Ville Eye
- part 1, Origins
- part 2, Radical as Folk
- part 3, The End
- Mudflat Art Kenosha News December 7, 1966
- Mudflat Art Photo Archive California College of the Arts
- Emeryville mudflat sculptures tribe.net (via archive.org)
- Gone But Not Forgotten: Emeryville Mudflat Sculptures evilleeye.com
- Mudflat Art Las Vegas Sun November 27, 1975
- Mudflat Art by William Jackson, published 1967
- "Monsters rising out of the mud" East Bay Yesterday podcast
