Layers of Public Identity Through the Art on Campus Collection

In Iowa State University’s Art on Campus Collection, beginning in the 1930’s with Grant Wood, over 300 artists through the decades have been challenged with visually representing the legacy, research, and visual identity of this University within a collection of 2,500 public works of art. Each public art process has a different set of priorities inspired by individual public art committees, and those stated values are embodied through the resulting public art. In many of the meaningful acquisitions of public art across this campus, the individuality of each artist is incorporated into the commission while expressing the concepts desired by the public art committee. Public works of art can vary from an artist’s studio works of art because of this collaborative relationship between the artist and the public art committee. Public artmaking varies from studio works in this collaborative relationship between artist and the public. The artist’s own backgrounds, making practices, and expertise informs their response as they learn the goals of the public art committee, and gather knowledge to result in a work of art that is meaningful to the campus while adding to the public’s understanding of the University and its visual identity.

Artist Julie W. Chang became a part of this long-standing tradition of public art in 2012 as historic Curtiss Hall was remodeled. The goal for the eventual work of art, as stated in the Public Art Statement, was to “express our commitment to sustaining a strong community atmosphere that is essential for nurturing and developing future leaders who will be stewards of the land, builders of strong communities and are dedicated to making the world a better place through agriculture and the life sciences.”  A multifaceted statement, eventually realized by Julie Chang’s terrazzo floor installation in Curtiss Hall, All the Way Home.

During the process of choosing an artist to realize this goal, California artist Julie W. Chang stood out to the committee. According to Committee Chair David Acker, Associate Dean for Global Engagement, Director of the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods, and Raymond and Mary Baker Chair in Global Agriculture, “The committee’s attention was captured by Julie’s ability to capture complexity, depth and interconnectedness of various subjects. Her vision in choosing and using symbols to coax the imagination and the senses to new heights was a powerful factor in choosing Julie to design a big, bold and original installation to celebrate agriculture and the life sciences.”

Although Julie Chang does not typically include symbols of agricultural research and innovation into her studio works, viewing this exhibition adds layers of meaning onto the public art in Curtiss Hall, which similarly uses culturally familiar symbols to represent the work of the college in a dynamic visual installation. David Acker sees the installation as a representation of the college as, “It captures the cycle of life that underlies every animal and plant we work with.  It captures the cutting-edge technologies that we help to develop. It adds elements of reality like the single insect that is represented. And while humans, which are an important element of the agricultural and food system, are not represented in the installation, they interact with the art daily as they walk over the terrazzo and view it from near and far.”

How does the viewing of All the Way Home in Curtiss Hall change after observing the series in this exhibition, seeing layers of symbols not expressed in terrazzo, but instead with layers of paint? In this exhibition, so much of the art incorporates layers of personal experiences and visual material interacting with traditional imagery to create a wholly new pattern of understanding identity – understanding how one fits into the larger cultural narrative. This understanding adds another level of meaning while viewing All the Way Home. By layering commonly understood symbols for agricultural plant and animal life with more abstracted symbols for renewable energy and the work of the agricultural college, the installation invites visitors for a closer examination -- to take a way a deeper understanding of the values of the institution, including traditional, fundamental symbols of the agricultural tradition of Iowa State, as well as the collaboration of research and innovation.

Exhibitions in the Christian Petersen Art Museum offer a deeper view into a public artist’s career and trajectory of creating, allowing visitors to consider how the addition of artists from multiple traditions of art making, as well as individual background, can add many facets of interpretation to the visual representation of Iowa State University.

-Sydney Marshall, curator, Christian Petersen Art Museum and the Art on Campus Collection, University Museums