Volume CXXXIII, Number 11 November 30, 2001 f

Letters, lobbying save quad sculpture
RYAN WALSH-MARTEL
STAFF WRITER

Intense lobbying on the part of students prevented the premature destruction of the quad sculpture constructed by Patrick Dougherty. (Nicole Stiffle, Bowdoin Orient)

Patrick Dougherty's twig sculpture, Simple Pleasures, situated prominently on the central quad, will remain for the second semester of the 2001-2002 school year. In her introduction to the piece, museum curator Alison Ferris wrote, "we initially planned that work would stay up through the fall, however, many people have suggested that it stay up a little longer." Students, faculty and staff extensively lobbied the Public Spaces Committee via Bowdoin College Museum of Art's director, Katy Kline, and as a result, Ferris' and others' goal was accomplished. The sculpture will now remain in front of Searles and Pickard Theater through the changing winter and spring seasons.

President Barry Mills was also influential in the sculpture's extension. Many people emailed Katy Kline after a campus-wide email was sent, asking for support for the movement.

"There was this massive flurry of emails--180 came in one day--and some were copied to Barry Mills too because the day after that, he announced at the administrative staff luncheon 'Alright already, I've heard enough about the sculpture, we'll keep it up through the spring,'" Kline said.

Just letting Dougherty construct the work on the quad in the first place was a significant accomplishment. Kline said that the committee was "uneasy about starting a precedent of allowing sculptures on the quad." Ferris explains that much of it had to do with the natural and sensitive nature of the construction. "Given Dougherty's reputation as an artist and his sensitivity to the architecture, the Public Spaces Committee decided to make a one-time exception to the principle that the Quad remain untouched."

The five interconnected conical structures--made entirely out of saplings and twigs and held together only by the tension the structure itself creates--has enjoyed many positive responses, as well as gawk-eyed stares from the Bowdoin community and others visiting the campus.

Steve Popper '03 enjoys not only its aesthetic value but its interactive opportunities as well. "I rode my bike through it once…that was fun," he said. Eric Goldwynn '03 waxed nostalgically of its transcendent value, saying, "Its Edenic qualities leave me yearning for the days of yesteryear."

The sculpture will not last much longer than the next semester however, partially because Dougherty estimates that it will only be able to last for a year. Kline also stressed that people should consider the piece as a sculpture; a work of art with a significance that goes beyond its form and that is tied the temporal circumstances surrounding it, particularly the seasons. She stressed that it should not be thought of as a permanent structure, but confirmed, "it will be up through the spring when we will evaluate how it is holding up."

Also, in light of the terrorist events this fall, the extension of the sculptures is due to more than simply the aesthetic or artistic value. Ferris said that because they were constructed in the midst of the September 11 tragedy, they "have become, for many, a symbol of a moment and event that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives."