Stories

From sculptures to art walks, Santa Clara University’s College of Arts and Sciences is making art accessibility a priority, bringing visual arts to the forefront of Santa Clara’s campus.

On Friday October 13, 2017, at 1 p.m., the Santa Clara community will formally unveil the latest addition to the new Edward M. Dowd Art and Art History building: the Sculpture Garden.  University President Father Engh will preside over a dedication ceremony where he will thank the contributing artists as well as those whose donations made this project possible. The ceremony will coincide with the Grand Reunion, a weekend event welcoming back alumni of all ages to the campus. Faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members are all welcome at the dedication ceremony. The two commissioned artists, Linda Fleming and Roger Berry will be giving an artist talk later the same afternoon at 4:30pm.

The garden enhances the vision of major building donor Mr. Edward M. Dowd, who wanted to create public access to visual arts and promote visibility of the arts for Santa Clara University, as well as the larger Santa Clara community.

The Sculpture Garden is the permanent home to two works: “Solar Flare” by Linda Fleming, and “Zeno” by Roger Berry. Both artists are local to Northern California: Linda Fleming hails from Benicia, and Roger Berry is from the Sacramento Delta. Fleming and Berry each blend technology and art in their practices, a fitting tribute to Silicon Valley industry and innovation. While Fleming uses drawing and maquettes (small scale models) to create her work, Berry often utilizes 3-D modeling and mathematical principles to form his works. According to Kathy Aoki, Chair of the Art and Art History Department, each artist has “one hand in technical and one hand in analog,” making their process and products applicable to SCU’s goal of integrating technology throughout multiple disciplines.  Current students actually helped install Fleming’s “Solar Flare.”

The sculptures were thoughtfully selected by a diverse committee including individuals representing a variety of departments and expertise. Along with Art and Art History professors, there were advisors from the University’s de Saisset Museum and University Administration, as well as Mr. Dowd’s representative.

The process began with a carefully crafted mission statement, which emphasized the garden as an extension of the teaching spaces, whose goal was to represent a diversity in artist backgrounds, perspectives, concepts, style and media. Father William J. Rewak, S.J. and chair of the sculpture committee described the process as “great fun,” adding, “I’ve never before been so immersed in the study of art. It was great to work with the committee; we functioned well together.”

The creation of the Sculpture Garden is part of the artistic regeneration around Santa Clara’s campus and within the larger community. In fact, the city of Santa Clara has preliminary ideas for installing an art walk down Franklin Street, providing accessibility to both pedestrians and the arts. Expanding on the accessibility to the arts throughout the community in the upcoming years will bring a higher caliber of art to the Santa Clara campus and beyond.