Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-10-10

The American Civic Association,
which has its headquarters in this
city. will hold its sixteenth annual
convention at Amherst. Mass. Thurs
day, Friday and Saturday of this
week. In the announcement of the
convention ii is truly stated that
civic art, for which the civic associa-
ton stands, is for all the people and
the most democratic and social of
all branches of art.
Civic art is outdoor art and has to
do primarily with the planning and
development of cities. embracing ar
chitecture, sculpture, landscape de-
sign, the layout of streets, the group
ing of buildings, the development of
parks and Fairgrounds. The Ameri-
can Civic Association is going long
step further this year by making
country planning the chief topic OF
consideration at this convention under
the conviction that country and city
are interdependent halves of one So
ciaI and economic organism. At the
firSt session the subject OF National
Parks" will be considered, and the
necessity for preserving their scenic
integrity urged. On the second day.
Community Planning for the Village
and Rural District" will be the chief
topic, with addresses on An Ameri-
can Garden City planning the Indus
trial Village" and Reconstruction of
the Devastated Villages of France"
AT the Friday evening session there
will be an address on The Billboard
in the Open Country" and motion pic
lures will be shown of various gar
den city developments in Great Brit
ain. Saturday morning, Alfred Hop
kins. architect of New York. will de-
liver an address on Farm Architec-
ture" and DR.. Galpin of this city will
speak on "The Farm Home, Inside and
Out"
1t is interesting to know in this
connection that the Department of
Agriculture is making definite
effort through the issuance of an
illustrated bulletin to induce farmers
to develop their home grounds so as
TO give their farmhouses attractive
setting. This little bulletin. lately is
sued, shows surprising pictures of
barren farmhouses. most forlorn IN
appearance, transformed by the plant
ing of vines and shrubs into most
picturesque and attractive homes.
Country planning as well as city
planning is evidently an art and one
capable of still unrealized develop
ments-
One of the most distinguished
speakers on the program of the Amer
lean Civic Associations annual con
vention is dorado Taft of Chicago.
sculptor of the Columbus memorial in
this city and of the much-discussed
Fountain of Time" which is to be
erected in Chicago on the Midway.
This remarkable fountain comprises
an enormous group of people maSsed
together. yet pressing onward as a
great wave or series of waves on an
incoming tide.
The commission was given Mr.. Taft
ten years ago by the trustees OF the
Ferguson monument fund and the
plaster cast which has just been put
in place, is the result of almost ten
years of continuous labor. Following
the practice of other countries and
other days. this cast has been put up
in order that it might be seen ana
discussed and criticised by the people
before the work is put into permanent
material. Probably few events in
Chicago have created more interest
in many days than this. A public
work of art such as this is in truth
the possession of the people, and IT
is right that the citizens of the city
should realize their ownership.
The subject which Mr.. Taft will pre-
sent at the meeting of the American
civic Association is AN Art Move
ment for the Open Country" which
viii. in fact, be an account Of the
plans and purposes of an art extern
$ ion committee of the Better Com
Conference" of the state of
Illinois. This committee is an endea-
vor to bring better art to the small
country communities of that state. 1t
is not satisfied with stimulating art
in the cities alone; 1t
aims to offer such assistance as may
be needed along these lines in the
small towns and villages and in the
open country. 1t is prepared to send
out several exhibits with illustrated