Bas Reliefs, Science, Old Ann Arbor News Building, 340 E Huron St, September 15, 2020

'These pieces – 19 of them – are affixed to the original Albert Kahn building that was constructed in 1936 at the southwest corner of Huron and Division. (The building has undergone several expansions and renovations over the decades, so the stateliness of the original structure is somewhat diminished.) The 15-x-12 inch reliefs, made of cast aluminum, are easy to overlook: they’re placed on the upper half of the building and face two busy streets, with lots of motor vehicle traffic but few strolling pedestrians. It’s not the kind of setting where you linger, unless you’re waiting for the light to change.

Still, they’re worth a linger. Made by sculptor Corrado Parducci, each of the 19 square-ish reliefs (with some duplicates) represent 13 topics covered by journalists, based on a 1930s worldview: art, aviation, drama, justice, literature, music, photography, printing, radio, science, sports, telephone, and travel. [Aside: We wonder what 13 fields would represent the focus of today's journalists, and whether those topics will seem as quaint in 2082 as "telephone" seems today.] Parducci also did exterior reliefs on the University of Michigan’s Rackham building as well as on several buildings on the Eastern Michigan University campus.

The Art Deco style is reflected in the “rounded corners, the clear lines, the essential shapes of the small reliefs, along with the words set into the edge,” write Martha Keller and Michael Curtis, authors of “Public Art in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County.”'

Ann Arbor Chronicle, February 19, 2009