In the late 1960s and 1970s, di Suvero began working in a truly monumental scale, using I-beams as a consistent aesthetic and structural element in his work, as displayed in
Snowplow. He drew upon the dynamism of an urban environment for inspiration, as opposed to many Minimalists of the time whose artwork reflected the alienation of modern cities and machinery. Di Suvero believed art to be an integral part of city life, considering both the artwork's surroundings and the viewer's experience as contributing to the artwork; thus, he created many of his artworks to have parts that could swing or rotate in the wind in order to enhance the interactive aspect. After successfully celebrating Indianapolis 150th anniversary in 1971, and raising funds through the sale of various items (posters, coffee mugs, cookbooks, medallions, etc.) the Indianapolis Sesquicentennial Commission sought to use its funds to acquire a work to commemorate this Anniversary. Upon the selection of
Snowplow, $20,000 of funding was obtained from the
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Art in Public Places program. In 1975 the artwork was purchased for $42,600. For much of that year the artwork was on loan to the
Whitney Museum of American Art, finally arriving in Indianapolis in the fall of 1976. Di Suvero would have been a very well known artists working in the public sphere at this time, having had a display of 5 of his pieces in spring of 1975 at the
Tuileries Garden in Paris. At the same time di Suvero's work was known to be controversial as that same year the Oakland city council voted to remove his work, "Mother Peace" from the plaza in front of the
René C. Davidson Courthouse.
Location history Snowplow was originally on display at the
Illinois Center in
Chicago, Illinois, and from there the sculpture was shipped to New York for a major di Suvero exhibition at the Whitney before its delivery to Indianapolis.
Snowplow’s original Indianapolis installation in 1977 was prominently located outside the downtown
Convention Center. Although the artistic community appreciated its presence, many local board members and private citizens were dissatisfied with its design, and in 1981 it was moved to a less-busy site west of the
pump house at
White River State Park downtown. The artwork was sold to the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 1993 for $120,000. Then Mayor, Stephen Goldsmith declared that "Nationally, it's a respected piece of art. It just hasn't been very much appreciated here in Indianapolis." Funds from the sale of the artwork were set aside in a public art fund to be used to create other artworks in the city. Once the artwork had arrived at the museum it was installed next to the main entrance driveway from 38th Street that led up towards the
Sutphin Fountain. After the renovations of the IMA in 2005,
Snowplow was put on display on the south eastern edge of the grounds. Its purchase by the IMA and entrance into the museum's collection took place in 1993, after which it was moved to the museum property. As terms of the purchase agreement, the city of Indianapolis agreed to use proceeds from the sale to establish a permanent endowment for commissioning artworks for neighborhoods and other public spaces. == Condition ==