Abraham Baldwin Statue in front of UGA Old College Analysis

The monument’s purpose is clearly to commemorate Abraham Baldwin, the first president of the University of Georgia. Visually, this is evident because it depicts Baldwin in a positive and important way. While the idea that the figure is important is visually displayed through the statue, the context and reason for his importance are displayed through textual inscription. At the base of the statue is an inscription of his name, when he lived, and the fact that he is the “First President of the University of Georgia.” While not directly a part of the statue, there is a pillar by the Old College that details his accomplishments and importance, furthering this monument's purpose as a commemoration of an important figure in the university’s history. My hypothesis for why it was erected is because he is an important figure in the school’s history, and displaying him outside the Old College, the oldest remaining building from the historic campus creates a narrative around the importance of the university’s historic past as the birthplace of public higher education in the United States.

The inscription on the front of the statue is “A Gift of the UGA Alumni Association - Dedicated September 16, 2011”. Even if this inscription was absent, the statue is dated at its base with a year and the artist who made the work.

The setting of the work is inviting to be in, but it is not inviting for the purpose of viewing the statue. The monument is facing outward to the quad, where there are benches and shaded areas to sit. The way in which the statue is positioned is not inviting to actually look at. When walking from the main library, you only notice the back of the figure, which is off-center in the quad. When walking from the arch, you can see the front of the figure, but to figure out who the figure is, you would have to walk through the grass or walk to the left of the Old College and through the pathway to read the inscription of the front.  

There is a pathway to view the statue, but the brick area around the figure is small, and viewing from this pathway area is a terrible angle to admire the entire figure. The statue is of a standing man, and viewing from the pathway has you eye level with the shoes upward. If the pathway extended further into the grass, you would have the proper perspective to truly admire the figure. If you walk out to the crosswalks on the quad, you are then too far away to notice any of the craftsmanship and detail. 

While the setting is inviting to do homework and enjoy nature, it is not an inviting setting to view the statue. The monument is a footnote and small detail of the quad and not an inviting centerpiece, due to the fact there isn’t a proper viewing area to admire or even notice it.

When viewing this monument, I noticed only one person who appeared to glance at the statue for a split second. I viewed this statue during a class period, so there were not many people passing through the quad during the five minutes I observed the statue’s audience. Also, there were students studying on benches around the statue, but they did not notice the statue. Other people around the statue included a class who were completing an activity. These students who inhabited the surrounding area of the monument did not notice the figure but instead behaved as a normal student does in a quad, studying and conversing with each other. There was no reverence or focus on the statue but instead it was a footnote within the environment.