FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 23, 1999
CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119
14-FOOT-TALL SCULPTURE TO BE INSTALLED AT DRAKE
The Drake University campus will gain a new work of art at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24, when a crane hoists into place a large-scale outdoor sculpture by Robert Craig, associate professor of art and chair of the art department at Drake.
The untitled sculpture, which is made of painted steel and is 14 feet tall, will be installed near the northwest corner of Meredith Hall for the rest of the 1999-2000 academic year.
"I'm glad to have an opportunity to exhibit my sculpture on campus for the Drake and Des Moines communities to view," Craig said. "The location was chosen because the architecture of Meredith Hall was related to my design and I felt my sculpture would be best situated on an elevated site." Meredith Hall, at 28th Street and Carpenter Avenue, was designed by renowned architect Mies Van Der Rohe.
Professor Craig began building the piece during his sabbatical last year and finished it in July. It's the largest piece he has done since 1994, when he completed a commissioned sculpture that was installed on the campus of Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa.
Craig said the sculpture to be exhibited on the Drake campus is a departure from his previous pieces in both form and content. "It is the first piece of sculpture in a new series involving my interest in industrial design objects that I have begun to collect and research."