West Rock and East Rock are bold and beautiful features around New Haven, Connecticut. They resemble monumental gateways (or time-tried sentinels) and represent a moment in geologic time when the North American and African continents began to separate and volcanism affected much of Connecticut. The rocks attracted the attention of poets, painters, and naturalists when beliefs rose about the spiritual dimensions of nature in the early 19th century. More than two dozen artists, including Frederick Church, George Durrie, and John Weir, captured their magic and produced an assortment of classic American landscapes. In the same period, the science of geology evolved rapidly, triggered by the controversy between proponents and opponents of biblical explanations for the origin of rocks. Lavishly illustrated, featuring over sixty paintings and prints, this book is a perfect introduction to understanding the relationship of geology and art. It will delight those who appreciate landscape painting, and anyone who has seen the grandeur of East and West Rock.

There are nearly 500 public works of art throughout New Haven, Connecticut--a city of 17 square miles with 130,000 residents. While other historic East Coast cities--Philadelphia, Providence, Boston--have been the subjects of book-length studies on the function and meaning of public art, New Haven (founded 1638) has largely been ignored. This comprehensive analysis provides an overview of the city's public art policy, programs and preservation, and explores its two centuries of public art installations, monuments and memorials in a range of contexts.