Tilted Arc (Richard Serra)

Tilted Arc was a site-specific, 120-foot-long, 12-foot-high curving corten steel sculpture by Richard Serra installed in Federal Plaza, Manhattan, in 1981 under a General Services Administration commission. The work became the focus of a public controversy over its placement and impact on the plaza's use, leading to federal hearings and a 1989 decision to remove and dismantle the sculpture. Critics and supporters debated whether removal destroyed the piece’s site-specific intent; the removal remains a landmark case in public-art policy and controversy.