The IUPUI Public Art Collection, located in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, Indiana, United States, consists of more than 30 works of sculpture located outdoors on the campus of

Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) was a public university from 1969 to 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It was a collaboration between Indiana University and Purdue University system, Purdue University, of ...

. IUPUI is a public shared campus of

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

and

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

that was created in 1969. More than 30,000 students attend IUPUI today and view the sculptures as they walk, bicycle, and drive around the campus. Especially notable sculptures in the collection include James Wille Faust's '' The Herron Arch 1'' (2005), the '' Peirce Geodetic Monument'' (1987), and Steve Wooldridge's ''

Zephyr In European tradition, a zephyr is a light wind or a west wind, named after Zephyrus, the Greek god or personification of the west wind. Zephyr may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional characters * Zephyr (comics), in the Marvel Comics univers ...

'' (1998). Additional sculptures are located on private property adjacent to IUPUI, including the Indiana Avenue cultural district,

Riley Hospital for Children The Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health is a nationally ranked freestanding 456-bed, pediatric acute care children's hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It is affiliated with the Indiana University School of Me ...

, and the J. F. Miller Foundation. IUPUI also holds a collection of art works located indoors, including

Dale Chihuly Dale Chihuly ( ; born September 20, 1941) is an American glass artist and entrepreneur. He is well known in the field of Glassblowing, blown glass, "moving it into the realm of large-scale sculpture". Early life Dale Patrick Chihuly was born on ...

’s '' DNA Tower'' (2003).

Campus

Public art is distributed throughout the IUPUI campus. Sculptures are clustered near the

Herron School of Art and Design Herron School of Art and Design, officially IU Herron School of Art and Design, is a public university, public art school at Indiana University Indianapolis, Indiana University–Indianapolis (IUI) in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is a professional ar ...

, the School of Liberal Arts, and the

University Library An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution, which supports the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are an es ...

. Several were previously displayed at the

White River State Park White River State Park is an urban park in downtown Indianapolis, downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. Situated along the eastern and western banks of its namesake White River (Indiana), White River, the park covers . The park is home to numerous att ...

or the

Indianapolis Museum of Art The Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) is an encyclopedic art museum located at Newfields, a campus that also houses Lilly House, The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, the Garden at Newfields and more. It is located at the corner of No ...

. The campus is next to the Indiana Avenue cultural district, just west of downtown Indianapolis near the

Indianapolis Zoo The Indianapolis Zoo is a non-profit zoo, public aquarium, and botanical garden in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Incorporated in 1944, the Indianapolis Zoological Society established the first zoo at George Washington Park in 1964. The c ...

, the Downtown Canal Walk, and White River State Park. A large collection of archival photographs of the campus is in the IUPUI Image Collection. Ralph D. Gray's book ''IUPUI—the Making of an Urban University'' (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003) is a comprehensive account of the history of the campus.

Significant works

In 2009, the IUPUI Public Art Collection added four new sculptures lent by the

: Sasson Soffer’s '' East Gate/West Gate'' (1973), Will Horwitt’s '' Spaces with Iron'' (1972), Shan Zou Zhou’s '' Portrait of History'' (1997), and John Francis Torreano’s '' Mega-Gem'' (1989). Works by alumni, students and faculty are also included in the collection. For example,

Don Gummer Donald James Gummer (born December 12, 1946) is an American sculptor. His early work concentrated on table-top and wall-mounted sculpture. In the mid-1980s, he shifted his focus to large free-standing works, often in bronze. In the 1990s, he add ...

’s '' Reunion'' (1992), Casey Eskridge’s '' Torso Fragment'' (2005), Eric Nordgulen’s '' Antenna Man'' (1998), and '' Anatomy Vessel (Saplings)'' (2003–2005). Only two works by women artists are included in the permanent IUPUI Public Art Collection:

Judith Shea Judith Shea is an American sculptor and artist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1948. She was awarded a degree in fashion design from the Parsons School of Design in 1969 and earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree there in 1975. This dual ...

’s ''

Job Work, labor (labour in Commonwealth English), occupation or job is the intentional activity people perform to support the needs and desires of themselves, other people, or organizations. In the context of economics, work can be seen as the huma ...

'' (2005) and Jill Viney’s '' Barrow'' (2007–2008)

Administration

Public art on campus is managed by the Curator of Campus Art through the Office of Risk Management at IU Bloomington. Each IU campus has a Campus Art Committee whose members work with the curator. A system-wide “Public Art Policy” was adopted in 1999 to govern work by the Curator of Campus Art and IUPUI Campus Art Committee. The Indiana University Board of Trustees regularly reviews and approves proposals to site public art works on campus.

Documentation

The Curator of Campus Art maintains a computerized database of public art on campus, including acquisition and loan information and digital photographs. In addition, a Fall 2009

Museum Studies Museology (also called museum studies or museum science) is the study of museums. It explores the history of museums and their role in society, as well as the activities they engage in, including curating, preservation, public programming, and ed ...

course at IUPUI undertook the project of researching and reporting on the condition of outdoor sculptures on campus. The IUPUI artworks were the first group to be documented through the WikiProject, Wikipedia Saves Public Art. This effort was influenced by the successful

Save Outdoor Sculpture! Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) was a community-based effort to identify, document, and conserve outdoor sculpture in the United States. The program was initiated in 1989 and ended in 1999. History Save Outdoor Sculpture! was initiated by Heri ...

1989 campaign organized by Heritage Preservation: The National Institute of Conservation partnered with the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

, specifically the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...

. Throughout the 1990s, over 7,000 volunteers nationwide cataloged and assessed the condition of over 30,000 publicly accessible statues, monuments, and sculptures installed as outdoor public art across the United States.

List of works

References

External links

IUPUI Public ArtIUPUI Public Art Collection Group Flickr Pool''Wikipedia Saves Public Art 2009: A Survey of IUPUI Public Art''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis Public Art Collection Culture of Indianapolis Outdoor sculptures in Indianapolis