The Preservation Society of Newport County is hosting "Full Circle" at the Rosecliff mansion, an exhibition that revisits the landmark 1974 outdoor sculpture show "Monumenta." The current display features scale models, preparatory drawings, and archival photographs of works by modern masters such as Claes Oldenburg, Alexander Calder, and Willem de Kooning. A significant portion of the show is dedicated to Richard Fleischner, whose site-specific earthwork "Sod Maze" remains the only original piece from the 1974 project still standing in its original Newport location.
This retrospective highlights a pivotal moment in American art history when Newport, Rhode Island, was transformed into an open-air gallery for monumental modernism, mirroring the cultural impact of the Newport Jazz Festival. By showcasing the engineering, labor, and conceptual planning behind these massive installations, "Full Circle" provides critical context for how these works bridged the gap between sculpture, architecture, and landscape design. It serves as both a tribute to the surviving artists like Fleischner and a study of how temporary public art can leave a permanent mark on a city's cultural identity.