Harmony/New Harmony in Posey County was the site of two of America’s early utopian communities. German religious leader George Rapp and his Harmonist followers prepared for what they believed was the imminent second coming of Christ. When they relocated to Pennsylvania in 1825, they sold the town to Scottish industrialist Robert Owen, who renamed it New Harmony and brought science and cultural leaders to the town attempting to create a utopia of communal living. While both experiments
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Harmony/New Harmony in Posey County was the site of two of America’s early utopian communities. German religious leader George Rapp and his Harmonist followers prepared for what they believed was the imminent second coming of Christ. When they relocated to Pennsylvania in 1825, they sold the town to Scottish industrialist Robert Owen, who renamed it New Harmony and brought science and cultural leaders to the town attempting to create a utopia of communal living. While both experiments failed in their original purpose, their legacies continue in the cultural atmosphere of New Harmony.
This sculptural piece has an abstract robed figure standing at the entrance of an intricate, apple-filled labyrinth. The center is occupied by a single, broken shackle. This represents a letter written in 1862 by Robert Dale Owen to President Abraham Lincoln, urging him to abolish slavery. One of the red granite apples displays an evident bite mark.
Designers Jeff Laramore and David Jemerson Young of 2nd Globe, an Indianapolis–based artistic company, designed all 92 of the county sculptures featured on the outside of the Indiana State Museum. Their designs narrate the counties’ famous natives, historically significant events, or their cultural characteristics, and were fabricated and installed by various Indiana sculptors, carvers, glassworkers, metalworkers, and other artisans.
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