The Public Art on Campus Committee is developing new ways to bring more integrated art to the university’s campus by involving more staff, faculty and students during the process, as well as getting people to think more broadly about what art is.
Chair of the Public Art on Campus Committee Ricki Klages said that the buildings on campus today, do not have art integrated into them like the building projects on campus in the past used to. For example, the Classroom Building’s tile mural is made up of one-inch-by-one-inch tiles, each one painted by the students during the early 70’s.
“We have a really beautiful campus and it’s not about throwing a bunch of stuff on it,” Klages said. “It’s about being really mindful about the spaces that we’ve created and how we can adapt some of those spaces to art.”
Excluding the classroom building tile mural, they’ve stopped producing art for buildings with the result being newly constructed buildings on campus that lack art Klages said.
The committee would like to see temporary spaces filled with pieces. One idea discussed with the department of theatre and dance was a summer program that would take place outside on the main campus, such as, “Shakespeare in the Park,” or a chamber orchestra.
“We have a really beautiful campus and it’s not about throwing a bunch of stuff on it. It’s about being really mindful about the spaces that we’ve created and how we can adapt some of those spaces to art.” – Chair of the Public Art on Campus Committee Ricki Klages
To help bring these art forms back to campus, the committee hired Jennifer McGregor and Renee Piechocki, both part of the Public Art Network for Americans for the Arts. McGregor and Piechocki helped develop public strategies for downtown Laramie and are now helping to develop a similar plan for the campus.
One idea McGregor and Piechocki have talked about was taking the walkway over by the dorms on 15th Street and painting it to look like a Persian rug.
“Define that walkway in a way that makes it unique, interesting and fun,” Klages said. “A way that won’t impact traffic at all, but it makes it much more clear.”
UW Art History minor Alexander Hodel said, “I really like the idea of collaborative art and getting the best ideas from a diverse student population and what they’d like to see on campus.”
Projecting light and images on the sides of buildings that light up at night are triggered by walking near a particular area or creating a sitting area that would play music when triggered by movement are other potential art forms discussed by the committee.
“I like the idea of the interactive space,” Mechanical Engineering Student Austin Bell said. “I feel like it plays more with technology instead of having a statue put in a corner. I like art, but I’m not big on statues. I think it makes it more exciting to be on campus because you find out little things here and there that you see that you didn’t notice before. It makes it new and interesting.”
