Glean III by Tom Stancliffe

                         

For the last two years, I have commuted from parking lot #29 to the building of College of Design almost every day. When I am passing by the Roy J Carver Co- Laboratory building, I can see a sculpture that looks like a space shuttle in emergency that, I guess, landed on the earth. The space shuttle is displayed in a small square surrounded by the walls and sky. The space shuttle is catching my eyes every time, because it strikes my imagination. One day, the space shuttle may take off and disappear into the sky, leaving nothing in the square: instead emptiness fills in. I think that it is a forgotten fortune: we can see the space shuttle every morning as it is. What a relief!

In addition, this sculpture reminds me of one of the funny Korean folktales that I heard in my childhood.

 Once upon a time there were two brothers in a small village, Nolboo and Heungboo. While HeungBoo was nice and humble, but his older brother Nolboo was mean and greedy. Nolboo was a notorious boy annoying people and animals in the villages. After their parents died, the older brother NolBoo kicked out his younger brother HeungBoo from the parents’ house, taking all the inheritance.  

HeungBoo became poor and lived miserably with his wife and nine children. One day, HeungBoo and his family were so hungry that he went to his brother's house and asked for some food. But his sister-in-law smashed him on his face with a big scoop and forced him out of the house. While greatly disappointed on the way home, HeungBoo found a little swallow with its one leg broken on the ground. He brought it home and took good care of it. Several days later, he released the bird in the air.

                  

Next year, that swallow came back to HeungBoo’s house and dropped one pumpkin seed to the hands of HeungBoo. He buried it in the garden, hoping that he could harvest some pumpkins for his family.  The fall came.  He picked up one of pumpkins and cut it in half. Surprisingly, there burst out all kinds of treasures such as gold and silver from the pumpkin. Overnight, HeungBoo became super-super rich.                                                                     

 NolBoo heard how HeungBoo became rich. He wanted to be as rich as his brother. So he captured a swallow and broke and then treated its legs. He also released it several days later.

Next year, NolBoo received the same pumpkin seed from the swallow. He planted the seed in his garden too. When the fall came, NolBoo cut one pumpkin. The moment the pumpkin opened widely, a group of scary monsters came out and started to punished NolBoo and his wife. The monsters took away all the money and treasures from his house.  However, HeungBoo had pity on his brother. He invited his brother and family to his house and lived together happily ever after.

The sculpture, Glean 3, reminds me of the swallow whose legs HeungBoo took care of.  The space shuttle is a swallow lying on the ground, waiting for somebody’s help. Just as HeungBoo fixed the legs of the swallow, one day someone may appear to fix the wings of the space shuttle and help it fly into the sky.

Meanwhile, the space shuttle is just shining to catch our attention: the combination of shiny metal and green grass create some sort of mysterious fairy tale story like the swallow or space shuttle I have in my imagination. It could be another creature from fairly tale story books.

 I love the beauty of the lines. The lines have different shapes and thickness. The S-shape of the lines enhances the softness of the sculpture. The round bottom holds the lines stably and reduces the sharpness that otherwise straight lines may render. And the little square where the sculpture displays helps the audience to fully appreciate the beauty of round curves of the sculpture which is surrounded in straight lines of square walls and sky.

If you run into my space shuttle, think about your fairy tale story just as I did. 

- Sodam Lee

STRIDE by Bill King

William King, American, b. 1925
Stride, 1990
Aluminum
Commissioned by the University Museums, Iowa Art in State Buildings Project for the Lied Recreation Center. In the Art on Campus Collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

The Summer Olympics are in full swing, which means I’m constantly glued to the TV watching some of the greatest athletes in the world swim, flip, and dive their way to medals.  It’s hard for me to imagine the amount of talent, dedication, and sacrifice involved in winning an Olympic medal. 

Over the past week, I’ve thought back to my days of gymnastics, diving, and swimming.  I always enjoyed the sports but found myself growing out of them as life got in the way.  Practices became too time-consuming and injuries stopped further progress.  Olympic athletes push beyond all of these barriers for the chance to become the greatest in the world.  It’s a hard concept to wrap my mind around.

While it may be difficult for the average person to comprehend the dedication involved in pursing an Olympic dream, there are others who can relate.  Other athletes! As I was watching the opening ceremonies it struck me that all of the athletes, despite coming from different backgrounds and different countries, belong to the same community.  They all can call themselves Olympic hopefuls.  Even though they compete against each other, they share common traits and goals.  They all have the same intense drive to compete and passion to be the best in the world.  

You may wonder what this has to do with art.  I admit it took me a while to make the connection myself, but I think art can have a powerful effect on the public.  It has the potential to unite, or more commonly divide, members of the community.  This brings me to the Art on Campus Collection.  A lot of the sculptures on campus have the ability to connect certain groups on campus.  There's a little something for everyone.  Because of the Olympics, I immediately thought of Bill King’s Stride. Perhaps student athletes will see this sculpture and think about their teammates or their own goals for their sports careers.

King's work of art also makes me think about the power of a team.  While multiple athletes run together in the sculpture, they seem to move as one.  While many Olympians complete as individuals, many events rely on the power of the team.  Whether you're on the Iowa State Football team, or a member of the Fab 5 gymnastics team, you rely on your teammates to succeed.  This sense of "team" can extend beyond the literal definition to include your classmates, friends, and living communities.

What I like about the AOC collection is its relatability.  It’s not just for art students but for all students, regardless of major.  Iowa State students belong to multiple groups with multiple interests.  Each group contains a set of unique individuals with common characteristics that can be viewed as a community.  Next time you're around campus, think about what communities you belong to and how the art might relate to you.         

By: Dorothy Witter

Midnight and Varna - Gwynn Murrill

Without all of the students around, campus seems like a whole new place during the summer months.  I love the relaxed pace of things but must admit I'm a little jealous of all the students who have a few months off.  Although it's slow on campus, we've been busy in the museums planning the next exhibitions and getting ready for the fall semester. 

Despite all of the planning going on, I've had the chance to spend a little more time on campus than usual.  Last month, I led an ArtWalk of the Small Animal Clinic.  If you haven't seen all of the art inside and around the clinic, I highly recommend it.  Everything is so colorful, vibrant, and light-hearted. 

I think the sculptures in/around the clinic, particularly Midnight and Varna by Gwynn Murrill, fit with the theme of summer.  Summer is a time for fun.  It's a time to catch up with friends, spend time outside, play, and relax.  These two sculptures seem to encapsulate the free-spirted nature of the summer months. 

One of the reasons I really enjoy Gwynn Murrill's sculptures is because they're just so fun and relatable to everyone. Check out some of her other artwork here: http://www.murrillsculpture.com/index.htm. 

University Museum staff install Midnight and Varna outside
of the Small Animal Clinic.

Art doesn't always have to be so serious!  It can be fun, cheerful, and happy.  One of my biggest gripes with art museums is when they make people feel intimidated.  There seems to be a perception that if you don't know about art, you don't "belong" in an art museum.  I think the Art on Campus Collection is a great way to incorporate art into students' everyday life and begin to change that negative perception. 

The works of art in the Art on Campus Collection are site-specific, meaning they were carefully chosen to be in a particular location. While all of the artwork around campus fits the theme of the building in which it's located, I think the sculptures outside of the Small Animal Clinic are some of the most well placed. They just make perfect sense. The animals really bring the building to life and make the space warm, inviting, and fun to be in. 

During the ArtWalk last month the group talked about childhood pets and started a great debate over cats v. dogs.  The placement of these sculptures on campus is a perfect fit. The people who use the animal clinic obviously have a close bond with their pets and I think they can really connect and relate to the sculptures, regardless of whether they're a "cat person" or a "dog person."

While the weather is warm, take advantage of all campus has to offer.  Stop by the Small Animal Clinic and explore all of the different art around the building.  Most importantly, enjoy your summer!   

- Dorothy Witter

           

Panthers

Staff and Interns prep the float for the VEISHEA parade.

As the interns are away on break, I'll be taking over these blog posts for the summer. My name is Dorothy Witter. I am the Interpretation Specialist/Program Assistant for the University Museums. With every program, event, or tour we plan, education is our number one priority. It's easy to get wrapped up in the educational lesson-planning side of tours and forget to step back and really enjoy the art for what it is.  Hopefully these next few months will give me the chance to explore campus art again with a new perspective.

After all of the recent hoopla over the Panthers, it seems apropos to start off the summer with a post about the newest additions to the Art on Campus (AOC) Collection.  The story of how the Panthers, by Christian Petersen ended up at Iowa State is fascinating (read more here:                                                                                       

http://www.museums.iastate.edu/AOCFactSheetsPDF/2011/Panthers.pdf). 

Petersen's Panthers are installed right outside of Morrill Hall.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about the Panthers.  I'm always intrigued by a good mystery/sleuthing story (isn't it about time for a CSI spin off about art heists/lost art?).  But it's more than just the story that  interests me.  I've been thinking about the actual sculptures - their journeys over time, the transformation they've gone through, and their rich histories (some aspects of which we may never know the full story).  All of these things combine to give the sculptures very unique personalities.  It's almost as if these sculptures have taken on real, human characteristics with real, human stories. Maybe it's because these sculptures are just so different than Christian Petersen's other sculptures on campus, but to me the Panthers have so much character.

Panther with Deer at Middlebury College, Vermont.
 (Pre-conservation)

For years, the University Museums knew Petersen's Panthers existed but didn't know where they were located.  After nearly 20 years of searching for the "lost" sculptures, the museum staff discovered that they were on the campus of Middlebury College in Vermont.  The sculptures underwent an extensive conservation process, changing their physical appearance and adding yet another layer to their histories.  Christian Petersen made these sculptures before he started his career at Iowa State, but I wonder what he would think if he knew they were now on campus right next to his other work.    

The museums on campus exist for students. Many of the sculptures in the AOC Collection are meant to relate to a student's journey at Iowa State. A lot of students begin their college careers without knowing exactly where they're going to end up. They are lost, in a sense, just like the Panthers were lost to the museums.  It's only over time, however, that you really find out what you want to do and where you want to go in life.  The experiences during your college years are critical in defining who you are and over time, you discover new things that lead you to a better understanding of yourself.  Now that the Panthers are back on campus, I like to think that we have a more complete understanding of who Christian Petersen was before his time in Ames.  We have a better picture of what he did before teaching here.  Because of this, we understand more about his life and know more about him not only as an artist, but also as a person who had an important role in Iowa State's history. 

Perhaps the recent graduation ceremonies have me feeling nostalgic, but the Panthers really made me stop and think about my own college experience.  Who knew a growling panther with a dead deer could do that?!  Every day, I have the opportunity to talk with students.  Although it may not seem obvious at first, the Art on Campus really can be relevant to your personal experiences.  Next time you're out and about on campus, stop and think about why certain works of art are there.  You might be surprised what you discover.  

- Dorothy Witter

Tulip

It has been surprising to me how often I’ve been thinking about flowers over the past month.  Not only is this true because of the recent exhibition, Brunnier in Bloom, at the Brunnier Art Museum, but because of trips back to Missouri as well.  Everything was in bloom far before anything in Iowa was even thinking about blooming. (This didn’t exactly help with any homesickness I might have had, to come back to a barren and brown Iowa!)  Thankfully and unexpectedly, however, Iowa wasn’t too far behind in the whole blossoming and budding department.  It is beautiful here!

That is probably the main reason why I appreciate this sculpture titled Tulip so much.  It is a beautiful, bright green and yellow, which makes me think of life and happiness, respectively.  It stands as a solid reminder and a promise of new life, new beginnings, and that there is such a thing as a warm day in Iowa.  More importantly though, it reminds me to take the time to appreciate God’s awesome handiwork.  I am purposely learning to enjoy every day the simple yet powerful and beautiful things God has created.

During the Brunnier in Bloom exhibition, I was so impressed by the variety and beauty of the flowers used in each arrangement.  Just by taking a walk and looking around campus or the Indian Creek Trial in Nevada, I am just as impressed.  There is so much variety, beauty and complexity in nature.  I get so excited thinking about how diverse and imaginative God was in the creation of the world around us.  Not only is our God awesome in His power and in His love, but also in His creativity!  He considered everything when he made every single type of flower (there are thousands and thousands of varieties of flowers!): the parts of it and how they function together, the pollination system, how they interact with other insects and animals, etc.  Meditating on that thought alone about how much he adorns and provides for the flowers and all nature, reminds me that He cares for us even more! 

What’s even more incredible is to realize that the very same Holy Spirit present at creation is living inside of you if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.  That same creativity lies within each and every one of us!  You may think that creativity is useful or necessary for only people like myself who decided it would be fun to paint for a living, but that is simply not true.  We all need to learn to tap into that creativity and express it without fear.  Often, instead of exercising creativity, we keep repeating the same things over and over again, simply because we are afraid to step out and do something different.  It is easy to become so familiar and comfortable with something, that doing anything else seems absolutely terrifying.  It is also easy to refuse to try something new because of the fear of failure.  God has created us to need diversity and variety.  We are designed to require freshness and newness in our lives, just like the change of season from Winter to Spring.

So the next time you walk past the sculpture of this flower (not corn), admire not only the creativity of the artist, but of the Creator as well.  Be in awe of not only the simple and bold beauty of this sculpture, but of God’s simple yet powerful handiwork all around you as well.  Nature itself testifies of God’s power and divine plan, and Tulip prompts me to be reminded of that and take a look around me!  God speaks to everyone through His handiwork, so take the time to take it in and enjoy it!

“The heavens declare of glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands…” –Psalm  19:1

Celinda Stamy