Modern Head

Have you ever walked by something a million times and never noticed its significance?

Recently, I was walking around one of my favorite areas in the District, Penn Quarter and passed by this modern art sculpture outside the Smithsonian American Art Museum. I've seen it many times, but never stopped to read about its remarkable story. This weekend, I paused and read its adjacent plaque.  
Modern Head, by pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, was originally installed in Battery Park in New York City in 1996. It was one of the few structures that survived the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings in 2001. The 31-foot sculpture only suffered a few surface scratches and served as an FBI message board during its investigation the days following the September 11 attacks.

What a remarkable story. I'm glad I took an extra minute to learn about it. I'll never look at this sculpture the same way again.