UO History 101: Art on Campus

Oregon’s Percent for Art legislation, which was passed in 1975, has been salient in UO’s effort to feature artwork on campus. The legislation mandates that one percent of the direct construction funds for new or remodeled state buildings with construction budgets of $100,000 or more be set aside for the acquisition of artwork. 

Percent for Art has brought many vivid sculptures and art pieces to campus. Here are just a few. 

 

Aggregation

One of the most recognizable creations on campus is the commission by Adam Kuby which is scattered around the EMU green. The “disintegrated” art, as Kuby describes the piece, is made up of six broken-down granite blocks. As viewers move around the EMU green circle, the blocks are broken into even smaller pieces. The blocks were etched with quotes from UO graduates before being broken up into smaller pieces and placed around the EMU green. 

 

Encounter

If you’ve ever walked past Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, you’ve probably seen this 2004 bronze sculpture by Bruce Beasley. Beasley describes the foundation as the university’s faculty, library, and research facilities, and the upper layers of the sculpture represent learning, questioning, and exposure to arts and ideas. 

 

House of Phineas Gage

This 2003 sculpture created by artist and architect James Harrison is made up of wooden planks. Hidden in the courtyard of Straub Hall, the sculpture represents Phineas Gage, the American railroad construction foreman who survived a 3-foot rod driven into his head from a construction blast in 1848. 

To discover more Percent for Art commissions on campus, check out https://oregondigital.org/sets/percent-for-art 

-By Peyton Hall, UO Alumni Assocation Student Associate 


 

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