Campus vignette: Public art — everywhere, for everyone

The Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA), Gittens Gallery, and a permanent exhibit of indigenous artwork at the Natural History Museum of Utah provide ample opportunities for University of Utah community members to fill their souls.

If art galleries aren’t your thing, but exploring campus is, there’s plenty of public art to be enjoyed. Public art is broadly defined as art in publicly accessible spaces meant to be seen and experienced by everyone (e.g., Chicago’s “Cloud Gate,” aka “The Bean,” and New York City’s “Fearless Girl”).

Below is a nonexhaustive list of public art around the university:

• Alumni House [map]: Since 1920, all but one graduating class have added a metallic link to the Alumni Association’s Class Link Wall, which is meant to symbolize ties that forever bind U alumni together
• Ray Olpin Student Union [map]: The bronze “Ute Brave Statue,”located along the west side of the Union, was a gift from the classes of 1946, 1947, and 1951
• Block U’s: The university boasts two “Block U’s” — a large hillside “U” on Mount Van Cott that overlooks campus and a red Block U [map] between the Campus Store and Olpin Student Union
• Carolyn and Kem Gardner Commons [map]: A bronze Swoop statue stands guard over a bench on the east plaza of Gardner Hall
• Crocker Science Center [map]: The upside-down “Life of Tree” sculpture features “branches” made of 190 aluminum triangles that move in response to the scientific principles of resonance and frequency
• David Fox Eccles School of Business [map]: The business school recently dedicated a new bronze statue of its namesake, David Eccles, depicted as a 14-year-old arriving in America from Scotland
• Dumke Gymnastics Center [map]: A bronze sculpture of a female gymnast pays tribute to all past, present, and future U gymnasts
• Einar Nielsen Fieldhouse [map]: Near the entrance, “Teamwork,”a sculpture made of iron, wood, wire, plaster, and concrete, commemorates the legacy of U of U football dating back to 1892
• Frederick Albert Sutton Building [map]: The home of the Department of Geology and Geophysics greets visitors with an outdoor rock garden; the interior features a flowing “river” of multicolored slate tiles and pebbles from China, antique lithographs, and artistic displays of geology and geophysics like a wall of fish fossils and rock slabs
• George S. Eccles Legacy Bridge [map]: The copper “Go for the Gold” statue under the bridge’s west stairwell depicts a downhill skier and Olympic rings
• Henry Eyring Chemistry Building [map]: A statue of the distinguished scientist, Henry Eyring, stands in the center of the atrium of his namesake building
• James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building [map]: Over the main stairwell hangs “NeuroStar,” a sculpture of suspended neurons that contain LED lights programmed to slowly change color
• John R. Park Building [map]:
  • A bronze statue of John R. Park is located on a marble pedestal left of the main entrance
  • A University of Utah seal honeycomb tile mosaic graces the floor of the main hall
  • Also in the main hall, the “Great Men of Knowledge” mural is a tribute to academia, depicting some of history’s most influential thinkers from William Shakespeare to Sir Isaac Newton
• Willard Marriott Library [map]: The library hosts a regular rotation of exhibits created or cosponsored by students and employees
• Kingsbury Hall [map]: Outside of performances, the public is welcome to view two 1930s Art Deco murals on either side of the stage that depict scenes of humans in nature
• Rice-Eccles Stadium [map]:
  • A Utah Utes-themed mural is the latest artwork featured in the pedestrian tunnel under South Campus Drive near gate F
  • The Olympic and Paralympic Cauldron Plaza on the south side of the stadium commemorates the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games’ iconic fire and ice theme, including a 72-foot-tall cauldron atop a pedestal with a cascading water element and eight monuments that tell the comprehensive story of that year’s Games
• UMFA [map]: Near the entrance, “Rex,” the sculpture of a horse, appears to be made of driftwood but is cast in bronze
• Skaggs Applied Science Building [map]: The atrium/foyer features two art pieces — “Three Medusae,” suspended, motor-driven ball-chain fixtures that propel outward via centrifugal force, and “Sisyphus,” a kinetic sand display
• Thatcher Building for Biological and Biophysical Chemistry [map]: A four-story glass wall with the periodic table etched in glass adorns the west side of the building

 

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