''Sun God'' is a monumental statue by French-American sculptor

Niki de Saint Phalle Niki de Saint Phalle (; born Catherine Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle; 29 October 193021 May 2002) was a French-American sculptor, painter, filmmaker, and author of colorful hand-illustrated books. Widely noted as one of the few female monum ...

located on the campus of the

University of California San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

. The figurative sculpture is a multicolored bird-like creature, perched atop a tall

arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vau ...

-shaped, vine-covered concrete pedestal. Erected in February 1983 as the first of the Stuart Collection of public art projects, the polyester and fiberglass ''Sun God'' has become a notable feature of the UCSD campus. It is located on a grassy area between the Faculty Club and Mandeville Auditorium, on the eastern periphery of the

John Muir College John Muir College is one of the seven undergraduate colleges at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). The college is named after John Muir, the environmentalist and founder of the Sierra Club. It has a humanitarian emphasis focused o ...

campus. Since the 1980s, the UCSD Associated Students organization has sponsored an annual event, the Sun God Festival, with the statue as its official

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fic ...

. Over the years, numerous visual-arts students have accessorized the statue with items such as

sunglasses Sunglasses or sun glasses (informally called shades or sunnies; more names below) are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can ...

; a

cap and gown Academic dress is a traditional form of clothing for academic settings, mainly tertiary (and sometimes secondary) education, worn mainly by those who have obtained a university degree (or similar), or hold a status that entitles them to assu ...

; an ID card; a large, water-spraying

phallus A phallus is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic. Any object that symbolically—or, more precise ...

; and even a

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...

with eggs painted in the statue's trademark bright colors.Hardie, Raymond. ''UCSD Alumni Magazine''. May 2006, Volume 3, Number 2.
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References

External links

photo gallery {{coord, 32, 52, 42.76, N, 117, 14, 23.08, W, display=title Outdoor sculptures in San Diego University of California, San Diego 1983 sculptures Fiberglass sculptures in California 1983 establishments in California Stuart Collection