Iowa State University's Art on Campus

Iowa State University is home to one of the largest campus public art programs in the United States. Please visit the University Museums website for more information. To listen to an MP3 and view a video about the work of art, please visit the Digital Art on Campus Project.  

Bravo III

Artist: Bill Barrett, 2005

Material

Bronze

Location

West entrance to the Gerdin Business Building

About the Art

Bill Barrett's sculptures belong to the classical tradition of American modernism where clarity of form and firmness of structure are coupled with the harmonious juxtaposition of the curvilinear. He expresses a sculptural consciousness of organic forms, surfacing into elegant gestures a virtually liquid appearance indicating natural growth. His work is sensual and intuitive rather than ruled by an imposed logic. It floats through space, curving upward and outward, flirting with weight and gravity. Like much sculpture based on European traditions, Barrett's work carries with it a memory of the archaic.

For more information

Iowa State University is home to one of the largest campus public art programs in the United States. For a more detailed description, please click here. 

Escalieta I

Artist: Manuel Neri, 1998

Material

Ordinario Marble from Carrara, Italy

Location

First floor hallway in the Gerdin Business Building

About the Art

Dominating the subject matter of Manuel Neri’s works of art is the female nude, often using the same live model. He works in a variety of media including marble, plaster, and bronze. Neri’s nudes often rely on the counter-play between the complete and the seemingly incomplete. Neri distresses his sculptures by creating an abrasive texture that contrasts with smoothed unblemished portions of the work of art. Neri’s sculptures, such as Escalieta I, are often featureless and compacted with arms tight to the body and legs rigid. His resulting female forms take on qualities of goddesses depicted in art from antiquity. His sculptures evoke the simplistic yet formal essence of the human form. Wrought in a humanistic paradox of perfection and imperfection, Escalieta I stands as a defiant monolith.

For more information

Iowa State University is home to one of the largest campus public art programs in the United States. For a more detailed description, please click here. 

Untitled

Artist: Julius Schmidt, 1986

Material

Sand casting process

About the Art

This unnamed sculpture has been on campus for more than 20 years, but it got lost among the foliage in its old locale -- the Lagomarcino courtyard. In 2004, it was moved to the entry of the Gerdin Building, where it nicely complements Gerdin's modern look.

Location

South entrance of the Gerdin Business Building