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In 1969 the monumental sculpture La Grande Vitesse (The Great Swiftness or Grand Rapids) was installed on Vandenberg Plaza in Grand Rapids. One of Calder's most important public sculptures, it was the first public work to receive funding from the new National Endowment for the Arts, founded in 1965. The balance of funding was provided by Peter M. Wege, then art museum board president, who led the Calder campaign, and museum trustees Miner S. and Mary Ann Keeler. Astral Bodies, a gouache by Calder now in the museum collection, was auctioned in support of the funding campaign.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of this great sculpture at the center of the downtown, the art museum presents works by Calder in the collection and promised gifts to the collection, including prints, gouache paintings, mobiles, and stabiles.

A Calder Celebration Symposium will be held at the art museum with Alexander Rower, Director of the Calder Foundation and grandson of Alexander Calder, as guest speaker.