Detention Center

This sculpture is a three quarter scale model of the house featured in the iconic painting “American Gothic” by Grant Wood 1930. The house is recreated as a chain link enclosure. "Detention Center" is a social and political commentary, reflecting the tension and divide in America as many citizens wrestle with changing perceptions of what it means to be American, how we address immigration and what ideals should be represented in our national identity. The sculpture serves as a critique of the romanticized vision of rural America, often associated with both small-town Christian values including close-mindedness and xenophobia. 

America has become politically divided. A significant percentage of the population look to the past as a template for the future. This view is devoid of immigrants champions insularity, frugality and resistance to change. Others want an inclusive America that rejects or seeks to redefine the ideals portrayed in the iconography of our past.

The sculpture highlights an image upholding an idealized American vision while also referencing exclusion and confinement. The chain-link house symbolizes both the physical confinement of immigrants and the potential self-imprisonment of many Americans, shackling themselves to an insular way of thinking about national identity, societal norms, adherence to the romanticized visions of century-old values. “Detention Center” is a social commentary on both physical and metaphorical detention. By creating a link between Grant Wood's "American Gothic" and his own work, Runion offers a critical examination of American ideals while raising important questions that challenge viewers to reassess their own perspectives.