Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Spirit of Progress




The classically draped figure of a woman bearing a torch and balancing on a small globe on the front of the artspace building has a name. She's the "Spirit of Progress."

And while we'd like to think she's unique to Shreveport, she actually graced many Montgomery-Ward buildings across the country. Maysville, Kentucky turned their old building into a conference center. This one in Fort Worth appears to have three full stories. The pictured statue sits atop the Montgomery-Ward building in Chicago, which has been renamed One River Place and converted into condo units that are priced between $225,000 and $500,000.

Progress holds the torch of knowledge while using her key to open the door to the future. Can't think of a better symbol of all that is happening in the West Edge Arts District. Trudeau has the scoop on two upcoming events in that area, one's at the West Edge Artists' Co-op and the other's at Noble Savage.

To see what the Shreveport building looks like today go visit Alexandyr Kent's blog (otherwise known as movie boys blog).

Special thanks to Henry VIII for the use of the the photos of the two buildings. And to Corydalus for his photo of the statue on top of the Montgomery-Ward building in Chicago. flickr.com is a great place to find all kinds of nifty-cool photographs.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

You're welcome. Thanks for reading.