''Field of Corn'' (with Osage Orange Trees) is a publicly-funded art installation in the city of

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. The installation consists of 109

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

ears of

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

positioned in rows and standing upright in a grassy field. At one end of the field are two rows of Osage-orange trees, one pre-existing and the other planted for the project. Sculpted by Malcolm Cochran, with landscaping by Stephen Drown and James Hiss, ''Field of Corn'' was commissioned by the Dublin Arts Council and completed in 1994. The display site, named the Sam and Eulalia Frantz Park, was originally farmed by Sam Frantz, an inventor of several

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

corn species, and was donated to the city in the late twentieth century. The art installation is partly a tribute to Sam Frantz and is also intended to remind visitors of Dublin's agricultural heritage. Along the west side of the park, near the Osage orange trees, are signs that describe the project and explain hybridization. Three different molds were used to cast the concrete ears of corn, which stand about 6 feet (1.8 m) tall. The breed of corn represented is known as

Corn Belt The Corn Belt is a region of the Midwestern United States and part of the Southern United States that, since the 1850s, has dominated corn production in the United States. In North America, ''corn'' is the common word for maize. More genera ...

Dent Corn Dent corn, also known as grain corn, is a type of field corn with a high soft starch content. It received its name because of the small indentation, or "dent", at the crown of each Corn kernel, kernel on a ripe ear of corn. Reid's Yellow Dent is ...

, a double-cross hybrid variety. The ears are rotated in several directions to make it appear as if each ear is unique. They were cast at a precast concrete manufacturer, Cook & Ingle Co., in Dalton,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. Each ear weighs ''Field of Corn'' has become a popular piece of public art in the Central Ohio Community. The display received "Best of Columbus" honors by readers of ''Columbus Monthly'' magazine each year of its nomination since 2008, including four #1 awards as best public artwork in central Ohio.

References

Further reading