"Harlem Rose Flower Bomb"

At first glance this sculpture caught my eye. It was something that I had never seen before and was immediately interested in. As you get closer you can see why, it caught my eye. The piece of art I speak of is Harlem Rose by Willie Cole made in 2005. The date that it was made in surprised me a lot, because of the materials used. The materials most prevalent are black women's high heel and flat shoes, most of which you could tell weren't from this age or were really worn. With all of the shoes put together, it makes a makes an amazing brown and black rose.All of the flats make up the most outer ring of the rose, while all the other heels make up all the other rings, that spiral smaller and smaller. The outer part of the rose is all black because of the shoes, but when you look in the inner sections of the rose it is brown from the bottom of the shoes. The thing the a gets me is the size of the rose, its probably around 5ft all around, Cole had to use hundreds of shoes to get it done.
            When I see this piece I instantly think of black history. First because of the name, Harlem Rose, Harlem is the birth place of the "Harlem Renaissance" and the location of many civil rights movements. Even though it was made in 2005, it still encompasses the civil rights movement,by using many old worn shoes that look like they were from that time period. If Cole had used newer unworn shoes there wouldn't be a message, but because he used worn shoes there is a very important message. That message being that women played a very important role int the movement and these shoes represent their struggle. Being that all these shoes were black it further proves that it represented black history and the civil rights movement. 
         As far as emotions it gave me the sense of pride and gratefulness. What I mean by that, is being proud to being a young African American male with many opportunities ahead of me and by gratefulness I mean grateful to all African American civil rights advocates and especially African American women. Without those women walking in those shoes for the before me I'm not sure if i would be where I'm at and where I am today. Like all of those shoes represent the long walks to walk and countless marches they had to do, to get what was right. Those shoes changed history of Black History. This piece easily claims the struggle of African American women the overall civil rights movement. Willie Cole I think did an amazing job I believe on this art piece. He is a very credible artist, he is world renown for taking ordinary house products and making sculptures out of them. He has made sculptures out of ironing boards, matches, and even hair dryers.
       Overall i had a nice time at the museum, for my first time. It was nice to see another aspect of Penn State. Normally i'm not a museum goer, only when it get you out of class do I go to museums. Some of the pieces they had were absolutely stunning and so creative. I would go back but I think it would be within a year, so i could see some new pieces that were brought in.