A feast for eyes and intellect
Let your imagination soar as you discover the treasure trove of open-air artworks gracing the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus.
Visitors to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus are treated to beautiful surroundings, from shade trees and gardens to unique buildings and the mighty Mississippi, which the Minneapolis section of the campus straddles.
No feature stands out more than the Weisman Art Museum, a product of architect Frank Gehry's brilliant and strikingly playful vision. Pictured above, it dominates the eastern bank of the river and is a favorite campus destination.
But the campus also boasts numerous other public works of art. The images below present a sampling, identified by name, artist, and one of three general campus locations: "East Bank" and "West Bank" - both referring to Minneapolis - and "St. Paul" referring to the section of campus in Minnesota's capital city. It will introduce you to the works of 13 artists from places ranging from Minnesota to the Mideast.
After viewing the images, visit the link below to see the Weisman Art Museum's complete collection of 28 public artworks, which includes extended artists' comments and shots of works from multiple angles. And if you're on, or planning to visit, the campus, be sure to visit these gems up close and be dazzled.
A-Spire
Alexander Tylevich (born 1947, Minsk, Belarus)
Facing the river and the Minneapolis skyline, this floor-to-ceiling art follows you on the staircase, tracing out a helix of discovery that runs through the building like DNA through a gigantic cell.
Location: Science Teaching and Student Services Building, East Bank
David
Anthony Cragg (born 1949, Liverpool, England)
This uniquely sculpted biblical hero greets students of literature and languages, who interpret symbols and contemporary depictions of classic works in classrooms and study areas.
Location: Outside Folwell Hall, East Bank
Platonic Figure
Andrew Leicester (born 1948, Birmingham, England)
The 24-foot figure pays homage to Leonardo da Vinci’s drawing of a man whose proportions could fit into both a circle and a square, which da Vinci meant to honor architect Vitruvius Pollio, who believed the principles of architecture also apply to anatomy.
Location: Outside Mechanical Engineering Building, East Bank
Spannungsfeld [“tension field”]
Julian Voss-Andreae (born 1970, Hamburg, Germany)
This figure is one of two—a man and a woman—who appear to be solid from one view, but nearly vanish if seen from the right angle. The artist explains this effect “echoes quantum physics’ paradoxical nature and its critical dependence on the observer’s point of view.”
Location: Outside the Physics and Nanotechnology Building, East Bank
The Crucible
Stuart Nielsen (born 1947, Evanston, IL)
A crucible can be either a porcelain bowl for melting substances at extreme heat or a place where forces intersect and interact to create or influence change. Both meanings apply in the adjacent building, home of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, where crucibles both physical and intellectual transform both matter and minds.
Location: Outside Amundson Hall, East Bank
Untitled
Amy Toscani (born 1963, Dayton, OH)
The artist designed this abstract and whimsical molecule “to act as a gateway to the science and medical campus” and to be a landmark that would “pack a punch” to street traffic speeding by and pedestrians strolling through.
Location: Outside and inside the Molecular and Cellular Biology Building, East Bank
Dialogue
Barbara Grygutis (born 1946, Hartford, CT)
Walking through this two-part sculpture, you pass through a keyhole in one and a flame in the other. These shapes connote logic and passion, or reasoning and emotion. The artist hopes to convey that being human is not just about our individual differences, but also our commonalities. It’s why and how we can connect with one another. And why “dialogue” must continue to happen.
Location: Outside the Health Sciences Education Center, East Bank
The Ribs of Humanity
Craig David (born 1952, Saint Paul, MN)
In this nine-ton granite grouping, figures converse around a fire that represents the yearning to develop an idea—the intensity of the entrepreneurial spirit. The artist says it shows “ … the conscious understanding of the decisions we make together in alliances.”
Location: Outside Hanson Hall, West Bank
Humanaissance
George Sherwood (born 1954, Bridgeport, CT)
This lobby sculpture is suggestive of the art, science, technology, and humanity being studied and developed for the next stages in modern medicine such as MRI imaging.
Location: Inside the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, East Bank
Adjacent Possible
Maria Artemis (born 1945, Maria Artemis Papageorge, Greensboro, NC)
The artist’s concept and inspiration for this piece came from listening to the head of the University’s Biomedical Discovery District, who declared, “We are building an environment for innovation to happen.”
Location: Outside the Cancer-Cardio Building, East Bank
Untitled
Peter Woytuk (born 1958, St. Paul, MN)
The artist wants you to be “overwhelmed by these larger-than-life bovines.” Much as he was, when he first saw all the bulls at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, which are close nearby. “I was particularly taken by the contours of their backs and their great, almost sprawling mass,” he adds.
Location: Southeast corner of The Lawn, St. Paul
Natural History of the Enigma
Eduardo Kac (born 1962, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Through its intricate threads and spirals, this sculpture captures features of a protein molecule and spans the worlds of art and science. The artist created the model protein by combining his DNA with that of a petunia—and naming the resulting hybrid organism a “plantimal.” This form is a metaphor for the humbling fact that all life shares basic elements.
Location: Outside the Cargill Genomics Building, St. Paul
Seed of Knowledge
Seyed Alavi (born 1958, Teheran, Iran)
The artist describes this installation as “an homage to knowledge and the source/seed of inspiration from which it blooms.” And he honors the cyclical relationship that continues between the tree and the seed, which alternately reproduce each other.
Location: Outside Plant Growth Center, St. Paul