Facing the front of Crouse College, it’s nearly impossible to miss the thick, black gravel road that cuts through the green grass up the north side of the hill, to the right of the steps. Various construction vehicles drive up the hill, and each day, workers set more of a white, concrete wall into place.

But some students have not noticed the action on the front lawn – and if they have, many had no idea what exactly was being built.

‘I thought maybe they’re setting something up so that you don’t have to climb the steps in the winter,’ said Jason Falcone, a freshman drama major.

The road actually leads to a work-in-progress, a sculpture that will ultimately be a series of six slightly overlapping serpentine-shaped walls, each 12 feet tall, stretching horizontally about 140 feet around the curve of the hill. It will honor Chancellor Nancy Cantor, and its official unveiling on the day of her inauguration, Nov. 5, is a part of her first-year calendar.

Construction of the sculpture – a gift from its sculptor Sol LeWitt, a ’49 SU graduate – began in early October and is already completed, said Jeffrey Hoone, facilitator of the project and director of LightWorks and the Community Darkrooms. In mid-August, Cantor and her inaugural committee brainstormed the idea for the sculpture donation to promote the visual arts. Hoone contacted LeWitt, who donated a painting to LightWorks and responded with excitement to the idea, and in September, he came to campus to measure the area and mentally lay out the sculpture.

When the plans for the wall trickled out to the SU community – especially those who frequent Crouse – some were skeptical that a concrete wall would glorify the landscape.

‘I pictured the outside of an industrial building,’ said Harriett Conti, associate director for graduate student services, whose office lobby looks onto the sculpture.

But now that construction has produced a significant chunk of the wall, some observers hold a much more optimistic outlook.

‘You never expect that from a cinder block wall,’ said Kylie Hartigan, an administrative assistant in the graduate studies department whose window looks straight onto the back of the sculpture. ‘It’s tasteful.’

LeWitt and other architects designed the walls so that the bricks of the sculpture are arranged not in the usual brick-laying style, but facing inward, for extra strength. They also are reinforced with iron rods, and draining and other logistical concerns have also been carefully managed, Hoone said.

To further introduce the sculpture to the university community, the College of Visual and Performing Arts has hosted two ‘Art Chats’ on the construction site, each focusing on a different theme: concept and materials. VPA professors led the free discussions, and curator Tom Piche will host the chat, on Nov. 2, on the topic of form.

Conti, who has attended both art chats, is a fan of LeWitt’s work and loves the idea of public sculpture. Crouse is lucky to have it on its hill, she said.

Cantor’s inaugural year and its calendar, with the theme ‘University as Public Good: Exploring the Soul of Syracuse’ includes most campus cultural and diversity-themed events, including art shows, symposiums, lectures and film festivals. All these events, along with the sculpture, highlight Cantor’s goal of further establishing a link between the university and the community.

‘The arts help us raise critical issues of how we see the world,’ said the Rev. Thomas Wolfe, dean of Hendricks Chapel and co-chair of a steering committee to build and manage the inaugural year calendar, ‘and the artists help us bridge to the community.’

 

Published on October 27, 2004 at 12:00 pm