Sculptures receive varied comments
By Adi Asenaca Caucau
Staff Reporter
The 26 outside sculptures on the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln cam
pus are worth several million dollars.
The pieces are invaluable and
could not be replaced, said George
Neubert, director of Sheldon Memo
rial Art Gallery.
“To put a price on the pieces would
distort its meaning and it is not fair to
the artist or to the experience of the
work,” Neubert said.
The Sheldon sculpture gardens
have 21 sculptures, insured and bolted
down to prevent them from being
stolen. Security guards patrol the area
to protect the valuable pieces.
Four sculptures by UNL art student
Terry Hager are in the area around
Richards Hall. A sculpture by Ann
Sperry, another art student, is on East
Campus.
About two weeks ago a fifth
sculputurc by Hager was stolen from
outside Richards Hall said Dniudas
Ross, director of the art department
gallery.
In the sculpture gardens, two of the
more notable pieces, Elie Nadelman’s
“Man in the Open Air” and David
Smith’s “Superstructurcon Four,”are
being moved inside for the 100
American Masterworks exhibition to
celebrate the 100th anniversary of the
Nebraska Art Association, which
begins in October.
Three additional sculptures
“Crib”, “Post” and “Hitch” arc on loan
from Mac Homcker. The Sheldon
Advisory Committee, together with
the Nebraska Art Association, help
coordinate volunteer programs and
raise money for the acquisition, exhi
bition and conservation of artwork.
The latest acquisition is “Old Glory”
by Mark di Suvero, in front of Hamil
ton Hall. This sculpture is about 35
feet high, 30 feet wide and 12 feet
deep. It consists of 10 tons of steel
beams, painted “International Red.”
The artist, Mark di Suvero, has
described his sculpture as “painting in
three dimensions with a crane as my
paintbrush.”
“Old Glory” will remain on the
grounds until the Lied Center for
Performing Arts is completed in 1990,
when it will be placed in the center’s
plaza.
To fully comprehend its experi
ence as a complement to the environ
ment, “Old Glory” must be explored
physically, Neubert said. It exudes a
heroic energy and stands as a symbol
of strength and power, he said.
“This work is a monumental ex
ample of this community’s proud
accomplishments within a tradition of
excellence and it extends the
Sheldon’srolc/responsibility of intro
ducing the art of the 20th century to
our community by going beyond the
walls of the Sheldon Art Gallery,”
Neubert said.
Other observers are not as im
pressed with “Old Glory.” Of more
than 10 students interviewed near
“Old Glory” on Sept. 24, 25 and 29,
none said he or she liked the sculpture.
Although most said it was impressive
Dui aia noi 211 me environment.
“This is unique but somehow
it does not seem to fit in with the
green and country environment,”
said Stanley Smith, a UNL crimi
nal justice major.
While some students said they
do not enjoy looking at “Old
Glory,” several said they like the
sculpture gardens.
Amie DeFrain, a UNL fresh
man journalism major who sits in
the sculpture gardens on sunny
days, said she likes Richard
Miller’s “Sandy In Defined
Space” and Lucchesi’s “Pieta.”
“The pieces stick in my mind
and they are realistic,” DeFrain
said.
Art historian Sidney Geist,
said in a Sheldon Art Gallery
newsletter that “di Suvero’s art is
so ambitious and intelligent, so
raw and clean, so noble and acces
sible, that it must permanently
alter our standards of artistic ef
fort.”
Jim French, design draftsman
for grounds at UNL, said thal
some of the pieces arc nice, but he
questioned the integrity of a few. “Old
Glory” seems cold and does not be- __
long where it is, he said. LjL
The sculptures are displayed out- B
side on campus to expose students to
aesthetics, to broaden the student’s
experience and to introduce ideas and
issues thatstudcnts may not encounter
in traditional classroom experience,
Neubert said.
Great art cannot be tested in a
popularity contest, he said. Art appre
ciation takes experience and time,
said Neubert, who hopes students will
change and grow in their knowledge
and understanding of the arts.
Judy Cherry, a graduate student in
art who teachers fundamentals of
design at UNL, took her students on a
tour of Sheldon Sculpture Gardens
Tuesday and heard varied comments
from her students. She said she wanted
her students to look at the sculptures in
relationship to the work that they do in
class.
■
I “Garden of Delights,” left, by Ann Sperry, located on East
Campus and “Leaning Pieces,” by Tony Rosenthal, located
outside Richards Hall.
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