By Maggie Schauer
Murphy News Service
Many University of Minnesota students walk around campus with their headphones in and sunglasses on, seemingly oblivious to their surroundings, but lately it seems like more attention-grabbing sculptures have been popping up around campus.
A black sculpture sits at the back of Folwell Hall. The interesting black marvel looks like a facial profile, but faced head on; it looks like a completely abstract piece.
The sculpture does not have any description engraved, any artist attribution or any explanation about what the sculpture is doing in that particular spot.
Eva Moe, a U art student with an emphasis in sculpture and photography said, “The University could perhaps utilize funding for collaborative art projects that would have more significance to the community and culture of the University.”
It seems as though the sculptures are a bit out of place and perhaps even hidden. Moe said, “Yep I have [seen the sculpture],” but even she did not know any details abut the piece had been put up.
There are more notable sculptures on campus such as the Goldy Gopher sculpture next to Coffman Union. This “user-friendly” sculpture invites people to get up close to it, take pictures, and have fun with it. Goldy was funded by contributions from “alumni, donors, student, staff, faculty, and campus visitors.” The statue’s final cost was about $95,000 and the school is still accepting donations for “installation expenses.”
Nicholas (Nick) Legeros was the sculptor of the Goldy Gopher bronze statute. He said he thought it was unusual that we didn’t already have a representation of Goldy in a three-dimensional form. He also mentioned that he thought it was important to give people a chance for photo opportunities and allow them to “interact with the image and the essence of the University.”
Legeros’ sculpture is highlighted on campus and has been very well covered by in the media. It even has a webpage dedicated to it. The statue is highlighted with the school colors of maroon and gold and has been a fun addition to campus, where visitors and students have been snapping pictures, and “oohing” and “aahing.”
But some other sculptures around campus, such as the one in the Folwell courtyard and another one right across the sidewalk at Williamson, seem to go mostly unnoticed.
Rachel Kirchgasler, a staff member at the Katherine E. Nash Art Gallery said she is “familiar with Stewart Luckman’s ‘Rokker V’ from 1981 that sits outside of Williamson Hall on the East Bank.” She considers this piece to be a true public art. However, she was not familiar with the black sculpture outside of Folwell Hall.
Kirchgasler also noted the importance of public art saying, “It takes art out of the high brow institutions that it is associated with, making it more accessible to the general public.”
Maggie Schauer is studying journalism at the University of Minnesota.