The Kerrytown Arch by sculptor and UM graduate David Heberling.

Strolling through Ann Arbor’s Kerrytown area, you might notice the large, erratically structured arch standing on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Catherine Street, in the plaza known as Sculpture Park. Whether you’re on the way to the Smoothie King or are searching for place to sit down for a moment at one of the surrounding tables, this cubist entryway merits a closer look.

The Kerrytown Arch was created by University of Michigan graduate David Heberling in 1977. According to “Public Art in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County” by Martha Keller and Michael Curtis, it serves as a “symbolic gate” between the downtown business district and Kerrytown, akin to “triumphal archs” the Romans constructed to mark their conquests in ancient Italy, France, North Africa and Asia.

Modifying the original idea of the arch, Heberling employed the concepts of not just cubism, but also minimalism and modernist abstraction. Made of Cor-Ten steel and painted black, the Arch stands 18 feet high and consists of the usual elements – two vertical supporting legs and a horizontal connecting piece at the top. However, the sculpture’s “legs” are asymmetrical. One of them appears to be made up of several block-like chunks. Similar “ponderous” blocks combine to create the horizontal, connecting component, Keller and Curtis write.

The sculpture stands at the center of a brick plaza on the street corner, circled by metal tables. According to Keller and Curtis, the plaza was designed by Ann Arbor Tomorrow, a citizens’ planning group, and landscape architect Clarence Roy. Workers were employed through the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act.

Last year the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission renovated the Arch – a project that cost nearly $30,000. The commission is considering holding a rededication ceremony for the sculpture sometime later this year.

Heberling’s Arch is comparable to the Gateless Gate at Washtenaw Community College, which also serves as a symbolic entrance. However, Keller and Curtis call the area surrounding the Arch more “amiable” that the one around the Gate.

“The plaza is a place to rest for a moment, converse with friends or watch the parade of passerby,” the authors write. “The focal point of the sculpture provides another reason to pause – to enjoy a moment of visual refreshment, to see something unique in the world.”

About the author: Helen Nevius, a student at Eastern Michigan University, is an intern with The Ann Arbor Chronicle.