Feature Story: Second Draft

Walking across campus, you can see Western Washington University’s sculpture collection almost everywhere you look, from the waterfalling stalactite of tiny figures in the red and white hues of Cause and Effect to the little green men with cartoonish faces in Feats of Strength.

The collection is considered among the top 10 university sculpture collections in the nation. And with famous artists like Isamu Noguchi and Mark di Suvero decorating the school, there’s little wonder why.

The artists whose sculptures dot the campus typically create pieces based on the space they work with. “You’re working with the environment around you,” says Paul Brower, interim director of Western Gallery. Nancy Holt’s Stone Enclosure: Rock Rings for example, highlights the directional axes of a compass. With its rust-colored rock walls dominating an almost hidden, solitary corner of Academic East, the towering Rock Rings was placed where it was according to the layout of the north star.

Another piece among campus is Feats of Strength, created by Tom Otterness. All along Haskell Plaza are the “little green men”; small bronze figures with features like something out of a comic book. With their cartoon faces and comically large shoes they work and relax along the plaza. One exceptionally well-dressed figure with a tie and tiny top-hat sits on a ledge with a large rock in its lap.

Architects and school management often have to coordinate and compromise with artists in order to find the right locations for a piece. But maintaining an already-existing sculpture is not without challenges. According to Brower, many of the pieces are partially owned by the Washington State Arts Commission. WSAC keeps a maintenance and repair budget, but Western must also provide its own money for the upkeep of sculptures. “We have an endowed fund that provides us some money, but it’s not very much,” says Brower. “We have to sort of pick and choose which ones we’re going to do.”

Also sitting in the grass, flanked by Academic West and the Communications Facility, is Stadium Piece by Bruce Nauman. Influenced by a mountain view on a plane ride through Washington, Nauman created the piece to stand out among the circle of buildings that was then under construction. Stadium Piece is a massive, multidirectional set of white stairs resembling two jutting mountains. Climbing the piece lets one to sit, relax and watch people come and go. On nice days, even teachers will bring whole classes out to sit on the bleacher-like steps and lecture.

Along with a general budget, the university has set aside $30,000 to deal with vandalism. Even more money has been put into this fund during the past two years, says Brower, “So it takes out of programs that could go to the students.” One particular example of attempted vandalism was when Feats of Strength was first installed. An unknown person tried to smash all of the pieces. Though they succeeded in breaking one of the bronze figures, there hasn’t been an incident since. Instead, Feats of Strength gets Brower calls “the kind of vandalism that I love to see”. Scarves and sweaters of all kinds are given to the little green men during the winter.