Outdoor Sculpture Collection

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March 26, 2008
"Alphabeta Cube," 1972 (2.75 MB)
© Fred Bassetti

Wood and bronze, 8' h. Art allowance from Wilson Library, Phase II construction funds. Architect for the new addition to Wilson Library, Bassetti also decided to create a sculpture dealing with language. He was inspired by an ad from the American Public Library Association which used the letters of the alphabet to describe a library's functions. Focusing on the resources of a library and the structural nature of language itself, he formed a cube of 12 beams around a bronze polygon imprinted with letters of the alphabet, numbers, and mathematical symbols of pi and infinity.
March 26, 2008
"Bay View Station," 1987 (9.67 MB)
© George Trakas

Four sections of wood and steel, 45' x 144' area. 1987 Sculpture Symposium funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and private donations. Temporary installation in 1987. Permanent installation, gift of David and Kay Syre Family. George Trakas' installation creates a pedestrian's passageway between the industrial, port city and the university on the west side of campus, and a viewing station for reflection on these communal connections. He has used both architectural structures in his work and architecture as the subject of his sculpture. At Western Trakas first studied the site conditions: primarily a steep, weedy hill with a dirt path rising to the concrete pillars of the Performing Arts Center and a sitting area on a small concrete pad. Trakas chose to weave his own catwalk and irregularly shaped decks across the hill.
March 26, 2008
"Bigger Big Chair," 2004-06 (3.51 MB)
© David Ireland

Painted steel plate, 12 1/2' h. x 6' w. x 12 8" d. Western Washington University in partnership with one-half of one percent for art law, Art in Public Places Program, Washington State Arts Commission. Born and raised in Bellingham (attended Western 1948-50), Ireland is considered one of the most influential Bay Area artists working in the genres of conceptual and environmental art. Ireland does not make hard fast statements or try to prove a theory. He prefers to pose questions, such as how can art function? Here, the answer is in the fact that he designates a functional object as art; makes the "club chair" on the edge between abstraction and representation; and changes our experience by enlarging its scale. Generally, a chair is considered the seat of learning and a symbol of aspirations; when monumental, it also stands for distinction and authority. If Ireland's chair is experienced as micro-architecture, then it can represent the building of teachers and the liberal arts. Or, because it is monumental, does it refer to a type of education of the past? Or, is it a sign of the times that we should give more attention to a type of education in a highly specialized world?
April 08, 2008
"Bigger Big Chair," 2004-06 (shown during installation) (147.58 KB)
© David Ireland

Painted steel plate, 12 1/2' h. x 6' w. x 12 8" d. Western Washington University in partnership with one-half of one percent for art law, Art in Public Places Program, Washington State Arts Commission. Born and raised in Bellingham (attended Western 1948-50), Ireland is considered one of the most influential Bay Area artists working in the genres of conceptual and environmental art. Ireland does not make hard fast statements or try to prove a theory. He prefers to pose questions, such as how can art function? Here, the answer is in the fact that he designates a functional object as art; makes the "club chair" on the edge between abstraction and representation; and changes our experience by enlarging its scale. Generally, a chair is considered the seat of learning and a symbol of aspirations; when monumental, it also stands for distinction and authority. If Ireland's chair is experienced as micro-architecture, then it can represent the building of teachers and the liberal arts. Or, because it is monumental, does it refer to a type of education of the past? Or, is it a sign of the times that we should give more attention to a type of education in a highly specialized world?
March 26, 2008
"Curve/Diagonal," 1976-79 (3.47 MB)
© Robert Maki

Painted Corten steel, 8' h. x 10 1/2' w. Gift from the Virginia Wright Fund, 1980; installed 1981. Although actually constructed in 1979 for a gallery exhibition, Maki's sculpture comes from a series of studies done between 1974 and 1976. Its siting at Western was crucial because he was interested in the direction of the sun assisting in the restructuring of the work. Depending on the time of day, weather conditions, and positions of the viewer, the shape and dimension of the real curve will change. Similar to Judd, Maki is interested primarily in perceptual issues rather than metaphoric references.
April 01, 2008
"Feats of Strength," 1999 (752.10 KB)
© Tom Otterness

Bronze, 15" h. Western Washington University in partnership with one-half of one percent for art law, Art in Public Places Program, Washington State Arts Commission. Tom Otterness evokes both serious and whimsical sides to his narration. In Haskell Plaza his bronze figures amongst the sandstone boulders reinforce the idea of natural and cultural forces at work in the San Juan Islands today. The small scale of the figures call attention to the overwhelming forces of nature as well as the ongoing feats and the hopeful intelligence of man. On a more playful level, the figures are faculty and students simply working and relaxing in this University setting. Photo credit: David Scherrer
April 01, 2008
"Feats of Strength," 1999 (2.18 MB)
© Tom Otterness

Bronze, 15" h. Western Washington University in partnership with one-half of one percent for art law, Art in Public Places Program, Washington State Arts Commission. Tom Otterness evokes both serious and whimsical sides to his narration. In Haskell Plaza his bronze figures amongst the sandstone boulders reinforce the idea of natural and cultural forces at work in the San Juan Islands today. The small scale of the figures call attention to the overwhelming forces of nature as well as the ongoing feats and the hopeful intelligence of man. On a more playful level, the figures are faculty and students simply working and relaxing in this University setting.
March 26, 2008
"Flank II," 1978 (6.37 MB)
© Mia Westerlund Roosen

Concrete, steel, copper 1 1/2' h. x 12' l. Gift of the artist, 1999. A product of a specific time, place, and approach to materials, Mia Westerlund Roosen's sculpture was actually made in the Vancouver Art Gallery. She emphasized a process which joins together the dense forms of sculpture and the surface qualities of painting. When placing it in the landscape, she had to consider the work's scale and texture; she therefore, chose an intimate space where trees act as boundaries.
April 01, 2008
"For Handel," 1975 (1.23 MB)
© Mark di Suvero

Painted steel, 27' h. Di Suvero's knowledge of music and sensitivity to the relationship of art and architecture led him to create a soaring sculpture dedicated to the composer George Frederic Handel. Di Suvero's work rises not only from the roof of the rehearsal hall below but also projects beyond this roof/plaza and against a magnificent view of water, mountains and sky. Sometimes di Suvero is considered an "action sculptor" in the way he draws directly with the steel I- beams. In running his own truck cranes, in using his welding torch and in directing the blocks and cables, he attempts to build multi- dimensional structures which seem to overcome physical laws. Photo credit: David Scherrer
March 26, 2008
"Garapata," 1978 (3.74 MB)
© John Keppelman

Painted aluminum plate, 10' h. x 7' w. Gift of Annie Dillard and Gary Clevidence, 1985. Working with an automatic method of cutting and folding paper, John Keppelman arrived at the simple shapes of this sculpture. Because these shapes suggested a sense of soaring motion, he named it "Garapata" after a dramatic California setting, a river and canyon which intersects with the Pacific Ocean which he knew in his youth.