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Finding Their Own Niches
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Classic campus buildings are being adorned with sculpted likenesses of major players in the OU story.
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By Robert Ferrier
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Photos by Robert Taylor
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Nick Lillard, a student of Artist in Residence Paul Moore, puts finishing touches on his sculpture of the founding OU Fine Arts Dean Fredrik Holmberg, which will occupy one of the niches at Holmberg Hall.
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On a wet February day, excitement fills the Figurative Sculpture Studio on the north edge of the University of Oklahoma campus. Artist-in-Residence Paul Moore, his assistant Sohail Shehada and Physical Plant carpenter Rod Henry huddle around a 4 1/2-foot-tall sculpted figure of Oklahoma art pioneer and former School of Art Director Oscar B. Jacobson. The iece is destined for a
doorway niche at Jacobson Hall, once the Art Museum
and now housing the OU Visitor Center.
Classic campus buildings are being adorned with sculpted likenesses of major players in the OU story.
Other clay sculptures are scattered about the studio in
various stages of completion— Carol Brice Carey, Thomas Carey, Bruce Goff, Fredrik Holmberg, Savoie Lottinville, Cedomir Sliepcevich. They seem to observe Moore and Shehada as they carefully carry the Jacobson figure through the doorway and hoist it into the back of a waiting SUV. A beaming Shehada, who with Moore assisted student Lisa Clanton in creating this sculpture, recalls the basic research into their subject. “Jacobson was a tall, vigorous artist,” he explains. “We visited John Lovett, librarian at the OU Western History Collections, and looked at photographs of Jacobson. Then we sculpted him in a pose that seemed to capture his passion for art—holding a paint brush and palette.”
After the short drive around Parrington Oval, Moore and Shehada unload the figure and carry it toward Jacobson Hall. The footing looks slippery. “We don’t worry about dropping the piece,” Moore says. “We worry about fitting it into the niche.”
In the doorway, Shehada unfolds a paper template of the niche’s base, which Henry uses to drill bolt holes to secure the sculpture. Moore and Shehada face the moment of truth. The sculpture’s base must fit the niche exactly, allowing only enough space for a caulking sealant.
Visitor Center Director Leslie Baumert steps outside to watch as the crew lifts the figure into place. “This first one is exciting,” she says. “We’re looking forward to receiving five other figures: Mildred Andrews Boggess, Carol Brice Carey, Thomas Carey, Bruce Goff and Gail de Stwolinski.”
The sculpture’s base fits, evoking smiles all around as Henry seals the edges. Oscar Jacobson looks as if he had been standing there for decades.
The depiction of Oscar Jacobson is the 16th of major figures in OU history to be mounted in the niches on three of OU’s older buildings—Jacobson Hall, Evans Hall and Bizzell Memorial Library. In all, 47 are planned for these
locations, as well as Whitehand Hall, the Chemistry Building, Holmberg Hall, Felgar Hall and the Oklahoma
Memorial Union.
The idea for this project originated with President David Boren, long a champion of campus tradition. During a walk in 1999, he realized that something was missing from the Cherokee gothic facades of the old buildings. While Presidents David Ross Boyd and Stratton D. Brooks in classic sculpted poses occupied niches on either side of the Evans Hall doorway, similar architectural features elsewhere on Evans and other buildings stood empty. Here, he reasoned, was an opportunity to enhance the buildings and pay tribute to those who had contributed so much to the University’s development.
Boren consulted several persons familiar with institutional
history, and with their advice, came up with a list of honorees, which he sent to Paul Moore, a renowned
sculptor who joined the OU School of Art faculty in 1997.
Moore recognized the project’s potential for his figurative
sculpture program. He and Shehada chose several of
their students to assist and went to work in their studio,
located in the basement of the Old Faculty Club, north
of Boyd House.
“I assign a project to Sohail or one of the students,” Moore says. “Sohail creates some figures, and helps the students with others. However, I supervise everything. If a piece lacks something, I correct the problem. Whatever
leaves this studio will represent the University well.”
Shehada, 35, has been Moore’s right hand for the past three years. Leaving his native Kuwait 20 years ago to study in the United States, Shehada received a bachelor
of fine arts degree from Oklahoma State University before enrolling at OU and earning a bachelor of architecture in
1994 and a master of fine arts in 1998.
Shehada has found his home. “I’ve learned more in three years with Paul than I had in my lifetime,” he says. “We learn all facets of the profession—not just the technical
aspects—but also how to prepare a portfolio, set fees and work for customers.”
In the niche project, the OU sculptors found a meld of opportunity and challenge that also required some ingenuity.
“When we tried to install the figure of President (William Bennett) Bizzell over the south entrance to the library,
we lacked the width for a standard pose,” Shehada says. “However, by turning the figure 45 degrees, we fitted
it into the niche.”
The sculptors cast the figures in a polymer material with a fiberglass backing to save weight. For example, the Bizzell niche would support only 200 pounds. Shehada’s cast polymer sculpture weighed 187. The polymer is colored to match the surrounding limestone.
Figures of Boren and 10 other OU presidents have joined Boyd and Brooks on the north side of Evans Hall—William S. Banowsky, Bizzell, Joseph A. Brandt, James S. Buchanan, George L. Cross, A. Grant Evans, J. Herbert Hollomon, Frank E. Horton, Paul F. Sharp and Richard L. Van Horn.
Other figures in place or planned read like a Who’s Who of OU history. In addition to Bizzell, the only repeat honoree, niches above the library’s south entrance are occupied by early librarian Jesse L. Rader and OU benefactor Doris W. Neustadt, for whom the library’s west wing is named. Others scheduled for library installation are Savoie Lottinville, long-time director of the University of Oklahoma Press; Duane H. D. Roller,
founding curator of the History of Sciences Collections; Chaucerian scholar Paul Ruggiers; botanist Paul B. Sears; ornithologist George M. Sutton; and modern languages
professor Melvin Tolson. (A complete list of the figures and their locations appears in the accompanying box.)
To assist with this project, Moore chose students with the talent and commitment required to produce public
art—traits on which those in the figurative sculpture program are judged. Typical of the group is Nick Lillard,
Norman junior, who created the figures of Presidents Cross and Evans. Lillard received the Joe Taylor Best in
Figurative Sculpture Award in OU’s annual student art show and presented work at the 2000 National Sculpture
Society Show in New York. He praises Moore for creating an environment where students can excel.
“I produce visual poetry,” Lillard says. “For example, Fredrik Holmberg stands as a conductor, musical notes rising from the sculpture’s base as if from a field of energy. On this project, Moore manages to instruct me without trampling my vision. He sets himself apart from teachers who can create art but can’t explain concepts.” Lillard plans a career using art as social commentary. “I want to change thoughts. Months of work focus on the instant
when someone sees the sculpture for the first time. Do they look and walk away? Or do they pause and think?” Jay Hylton, Elk City senior, sculpted the figure of President Bizzell. Currently, he is working on a nine-by-nine-foot elk, which will be placed in front of Elk City’s
town hall. The sculpture dominates the OU studio’s front room.
“I’m proud that something I created will be seen by thousands of people,” Hylton says. “Someday I’ll take my grandchildren there.”
Noble senior Bob Norton produced the figure of President Buchanan. Now he is at work on the sculpture of engineering educator and researcher Cedomir M. Sliepcevich, which will be placed on Felgar Hall.
“As I looked at photos of Dr. Sliepcevich, I gained an appreciation not only of his engineering career, but also of
the man himself,” Norton says. “I want to portray him in a natural way. How does he stand? What facial features draw the viewer’s eye?”
He credits Moore with giving him the confidence to accept such a challenge. “Paul builds you up, rather than tearing you down. His ego never gets in the way, and he
adjusts to each student’s personality.
An Oklahoma City native and member of the Creek nation, Moore, 45, learned his craft in Montana and New
Mexico foundries. He has sculpted more than 60 commissions, 25 of them installed in Oklahoma, including the ninefoot figure of Edward L. Gaylord and the life-size figure of former Governor and U. S. Senator Henry Bellmon at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma
City and a nine-foot figure of Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench for Oklahoma City’s Bricktown Ballpark. Moore currently is working on a monumental sculpture depicting the Oklahoma Land Run for the Oklahoma Centennial Commission and Oklahoma City. When completed in 2007, the 45-element work, to be located south of Bricktown, will be one of the world’s largest bronze sculptures.
He sculpted the three 12-foot icons of the “Seed Sower” for the University of Oklahoma. The first casting was placed on the main campus’ south oval, the second at OU’s Schusterman Center in Tulsa and the third at OU Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. The twice life-size bronze of OU President George L. Cross on the north oval and the bronze of the 46th Speaker of the House Carl Albert in front of the Oklahoma Memorial Union also are his work. Moore and his students have installed 74 pieces of public art in the last 4 1/2 years.
“I’m creating artists,” he says. “The magic lives not in their technique, but in themselves. Great students share one trait: love of their art. I live for that moment when their passion takes over, and the work just flows.”
Niche Figure Locations
*Banowsky,
William S., 10th OU president
*Bizzell, William B., 5th OU president
*Boren, David L., 13th OU president
*Boyd, David R., 1st OU president
*Brandt, Joseph A., 6th OU president
*Brooks, Stratton D., 3rd OU president
*Buchanan, James S., 4th OU president
*Cross, George L., 7th OU president
*Evans, A. Grant, 2nd OU president
*Hollomon, J. Herbert, 8th OU president
*Horton, Frank E., 11th OU president
*Jacobson, Oscar B., artist
*Neustadt, Doris W., OU benefactor
*Rader, Jesse L., librarian
*Sharp, Paul F., 9th OU president
*Van Horn, Richard L., 12th OU president |
-Evans Hall
-Evans Hall & Library
-Evans Hall
-Evans Hall
-Evans Hall
-Evans Hall
-Evans Hall
-Evans Hall
-Evans Hall
-Evans Hall
-Evans Hall
-Jacobson Hall
-Bizzell Library
-Bizzell Library
-Evans Hall
-Evans Hall
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Work in Progress or Planned Name Location
*Benson,
Oliver E., political science
*Boggess, Mildred Andrews, music
*Boyd, Tom, philosophy
*Brown, Sidney, history
*Carey, Carol Brice, music
*Carey, Thomas, music
*Christian, Sherrill, chemistry
*Court, Nathan A., mathematics
*David, Paul, zoology
*De Stwolinski, Gail, music
*Dunham, Lowell, modern languages
*Ewing, Cortez A. M., political science
*Goff, Bruce, architecture
*Henderson, George, human relations
*Holmberg, Fredrik, music
*Ivask, Ivar, World Literature Today
*Kraettli, Emil R., administrator
*Levy, David W., history
*Lottinville, Savoie, OU Press
*Love, Tom, engineering
*Massad, Paul D., administrator
*Merrill, Maurice H., law
*Morris, J. R., administrator
*Roller, Duane H. D., history of science
*Ruggiers, Paul, English literature
*Sears, Paul B., botany
*Sliepcevich, Cedomir M., engineering
*Sutton, George M., ornithology
*Tolson, Melvin, modern languages
*Wadsack, George E., administrator
*Williams, Guy Y., chemistry
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-Whitehand
Hall
-Jacobson Hall
-Memorial Union
-Whitehand Hall
-Jacobson Hall
-Jacobson Hall
-Chemistry Building
-Memorial Union
-Memorial Union
-Jacobson Hall
-Whitehand Hall
-Memorial Union
-Jacobson Hall
-Memorial Union
-Holmberg Hall
-Whitehand Hall
-Memorial Union
-Memorial Union
-Bizzell Library
-Memorial Union
-Memorial Union
-Memorial Union
-Memorial Union
-Bizzell Library
-Bizzell Library
-Bizzell Library
-Felgar Hall
-Bizzell Library
-Bizzell Library
-Memorial Union
-Chemistry Building
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