Sculpture

Located on the northwest corner of the Science Laboratory Building

Illinois artist and sculptor Thomas Skomski was commissioned through the Art-in-Architecture Program in 1998 to create Not One Not Two, which resembles a split tree trunk. Skomski explains that while his work evolves “from no set perspective or point of view” so that his style changes from piece to piece, Buddhism is an underlying motivation for much of what he creates. With no set limitations, he has worked in a wide range of media that include concrete, water, wax, glass, and stone.

Located on the west side of Science Laboratory Building

Illinois sculptor Chris Berti was commissioned through the Art-in-Architecture Program to create these three large limestone shells that rest in a bed of loose stone. Installed in 1998, the work is an example of an aquatic interest Berti developed while working as a commercial fisherman off Long Island Sound for six years. Berti has a degree in ceramics and taught himself to work in stone, following in the path of his grandfather, who was a stonemason by trade.

Located at the southwest entrance of the Science Laboratory Building

A former Illinois State art professor, Barry Tinsley was commissioned through the Art-in-Architecture Program to create a piece for the Science Laboratory Building. Tinsley has completed more than 30 commissioned pieces and considers Aqua to be his most successful realization of art in conjunction with a site. Installed in 1998, the 10-by 12-foot triangular granite and bronze sculpture represents the ancient alchemy symbol for water. A major compound in all living things, water also is a primary component in the function and study of biology and chemistry. Aqua is the second campus sculpture created by Tinsley, whose work has been featured numerous times in Chicago’s celebrated and ongoing Navy Pier sculpture exhibition. The other piece, #14 on tour, is located on the southeast lawn between the Center for Visual Arts and Centennial West.

Located in the lobby of the Science Laboratory Building

The cofounder of the celebrated Navy Pier outdoor sculpture displays in Chicago, Terry Karpowicz was commissioned through the Art-in-Architecture Program to create On the Edge of Awakening. The stone and wood sculpture was installed in 1998 and is one of a series Karpowicz has completed to explore the challenges to humanity at this point in history. It is inspired in part by his fascination with the innerworkings of windmills and watermills, which captured his attention during his studies in England.

Located in the plaza between Watterson Towers and Stevenson Hall

Logos was installed in 1969 as a tribute to Adlai Stevenson II, former Illinois governor, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and twice a candidate for president of the United States. Created by noted Philadelphia sculptor Henry Mitchell, the 20-foot spiral cast in bronze with gold leaf emerges from a circle that was once a working fountain. The piece, named to reflect the spirit of reason that Stevenson personified, resulted from a $50,000 gift to the University. Among the donors was Stevenson’s sister, Elizabeth Stevenson Ives. Logos stands outside Stevenson Hall, the classroom and faculty office building also named in Stevenson’s honor and as a tribute to ancestors of the Stevenson family, who helped found Illinois State in 1857.

Located between Stevenson Hall and Williams Hall, from North Street to Beaufort Street

Donations totaling approximately $2 million were key in the creation of In Exchange, which converted a vacant portion of School Street into an educational and sculptural environment. Private gifts were received from alumni, faculty, and friends of the University, local businesses, and corporate and private foundations. Students also contributed through the Senior Challenge for the classes of 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1998. University funds were used to complete the south entrance of the two-acre pedestrian plaza, which alumnus Dann Nardi specifically designed to capture the connection of humans with nature. He describes In Exchange as a location of shared property of both man and nature, an enduring timeless exchange of relationships between the two. Nardi’s design consists of large circles that integrate art, plantings, and a water element with the environment to create a living laboratory. Dedicated in 2004, In Exchange is a key element of the Fell Arboretum.

Hand Blown Glass Bowl
by Joseph Nielander,
M.S. ’91, M.F.A. ’94
Acquired in 1989, this glass piece was created by Joseph Nielander of Pompano Beach, Florida, during his first semester of graduate work at the University.

Ensemble
by Brian Higer, M.S. ’97
Brian Higer of Pocatello, Idaho, completed Ensemble while a graduate student working under the direction of Distinguished Professor Emeritus Joel Myers. Acquired in 1993, the crystal was designed by Higer to have the look of ice.

My Van Gogh
by Robert Leroy Hardgrove
This acrylic painting acquired in 1992 is the creation of Clinton, Illinois, artist Robert Hardgrove, who was a student in the School of Art at the time. His paintings and drawings have been exhibited in Chicago.

The Right Angle
by Veda Mae Rives, M.A. ’92
This monotype print by graduate student Veda Mae Rives from Virden, Illinois, was one of two gifts acquired in 1990. Summer Hillside, which was done by Rives’s twin sister, was also added to the collection.

Summer Hillside
by Meda Rae Rives, M.A. ’92, M.F.A. ’98
This print by Meda Rae Rives was acquired in 1990, along with The Right Angle, which was created by her twin sister. The two women studied under School of Art Professor James Butler.

Untitled
by Joel Myers
Acquired in 1997, this uneven sphere of blown glass by Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Art Joel Myers is filled with spectacular color. Myers created the University’s glass program in the College of Fine Arts in 1970. Self-taught in glassblowing, Myers’s work has been exhibited around the world.

Located on the east side of the Quad near Hovey Hall

This bronze sculpture designed by artist and architect William Wright was installed in 1967 as a gift from the Class of 1967 in honor of Robert G. Bone, who served as Illinois State’s president from 1956 until his retirement in 1967. Bone was beloved by the campus community, and particularly students, as he guided the University through a decade of change. Enrollment tripled, 15 new buildings were constructed, and the University’s name changed from Illinois State Normal during Bone’s years as president.

Located on the southeast lawn between the Center for Visual Arts and Centennial West

This untitled abstract sculpture is Barry Tinsley’s first commissioned piece and represents his early work in steel. He has since evolved to work in other metals and stone. The piece is a tribute to one of his former students, Janice Louise Moorhous, who died in 1972 at the age of 20. Tinsley also created Aqua (#4 on tour), which stands at the entrance of the Science Laboratory Building.

Located on the south lawn of the Center for Visual Arts and Centennial East

This untitled abstract steel sculpture is the work of Herbert House, a former Illinois State student who is semiretired and resides in Chicago. The sculptor of approximately 500 pieces ranging from large-scale work to more intimate pieces, House was commissioned by the College of Fine Arts to create this piece in 1974.

Located on the west side of the Quad by the east entrance to DeGarmo Hall

A native of St. Louis, Ernest Trova is a self-taught artist who has achieved international acclaim as a prolific and imaginative sculptor. A desire to explore man’s condition in the midst of technology has driven much of Trova’s work, including his famous Falling Man series. Pieces from the series are displayed in museums around the world. Trova next began to create Abbreviations, which is a series of pieces crafted from scraps of metal. Abstract Variations emerged as a result. Illinois State obtained one piece of the collection as a donation. The piece, which was added to the Quad in 1985, was completed by Trova in 1976.

Located on the west side of the Quad in front of Cook Hall

Nita Sunderland, Bradley University art professor emerita, was commissioned through the Art-in-Architecture Program to create this piece that was installed in 1990. Made of limestone and bronze, Ruins IV reflects the stylized medieval imagery that exemplifies Sunderland’s work. The sculpture is part of a series that Sunderland said stands as a statement about our relationship with history and former societies, as well as the importance of earning from the mistakes and experiments of the past.

Located on the exterior wall of Schroeder Hall at northwest entrance

A former Illinois State University professor of art, James Wozniak created this untitled fired-ceramic and metal hanging sculpture. The piece was commissioned as a gift to the University by the Senior Class of 1965. Wozniak worked in sculpture, ceramics, architecture, carpentry, and graphic design from the mid-1950s until the time of his death in 1984.

Located on the west lawn of Bone Student Center

Sculptor Isaac Witkin, whose work has been exhibited internationally, constructed Alnasco. Named for the steel company that provided the raw material and a place to create it, the sculpture was donated by the Illinois State Alumni Association in 1975 and installed in 1978. It was acquired for the University after being featured in a well-received gallery show in Rhode Island. The sculpture is one of the last examples of Witkin’s work in welded steel, as he purposefully changed his artistic style after its completion.

Located outside the north entrance of Redbird Arena

Constructed in 1993, Competitive Edge is fabricated sheet steel sculpted abstractly into a figure suggesting a basketball player. A gift of the Class of 1988, Charlene Bokesch-Parsons’s piece was chosen from a contest that was open to all Illinois State students. Now an art teacher and artist who incorporates kiln-cast glass, steel, granite, and ceramics into her work, Bokesch-Parsons remains firm in her belief that art should not only be visually engaging to the eye but it should also be intriguing to the mind.