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They're not as gleeful as your examples in Omaha, but the public memorials to the Irish famine across Ireland certainly embed hidden local histories in their physical environments: https://www.theirishpotatofamine.com/en-us/pages/irish-famine-memorial

I was most haunted by the famine ship monument in Murrisk, beside the bay at the foot of the holy Croagh Patrick. Compared to its environs, it is a gaunt metal husk (exactly the point, I suppose).

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Spirit of Nebraska’s Wilderness is brilliant and so clever. Would get my vote too. The globe at the Vatican Museums was really stunning up close - beautiful and not in context, yet undeniably powerful: https://mymodernmet.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/archive/viWbXKGx4ivhG19VGAdX_1082094798.jpeg

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Nov 16Liked by William Collen

Kent Ullberg is an incredible sculptor. I had no idea how large his Spirit of Nebraska's Wilderness is, as I had just seen the image of the bison "running through" the building. Thanks for sharing!

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