ISU Horticulture...Looking Back, Looking Ahead...Cultivating Knowledge Now

ISU Horticulture...Looking Back, Looking Ahead...Cultivating Knowledge Now

Object NameInstallation, mural

Artist / Maker Sarah Grant (American, b. 1953)

Artist / Maker Sticks, Inc. (America (Des Moines, IA), founded 1985)

Date2011

MediumBurned wood and acrylic paint

DimensionsPanels : 99 x 888 in. (251.5 x 2255.5 cm) Bench: 18 x 68 1/2 in. (45.7 x 174 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineCommissioned by University Museums. An Iowa Art in State Buildings Project for the Horticulture Greenhouse renovation. In the Art on Campus Collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberU2011.441abc

Status

On view

Collections

Label TextThe atrium of Horticulture Hall surrounds the viewer in a vividly colored mural showcasing the impact of horticulture at Iowa State University. The eight foot high panels flow together uniting the design among doors, nooks, and crannies. Based on artist Sarah Grant’s love of storytelling, the mural depicts the lives of those who had significant roles in horticulture research, teaching, plant development, propagation, and turf management at Iowa State. Notable names and faces represented along with their horticulture contributions include Spencer Beach, Griffth Buck, J.L. Budd, Charles Hall, George Washington Carver, Louis Pammel, and A.E. Cott. Interspersed on the panels are painted flowers, fruits, vegetables and ornamentals developed by these horticulturalists. Sticks, Inc.’s signature wood burned text enhances the stories of these pioneer scientists. The mural has an immediate impact on the viewer as they enter Horticulture Hall. Sarah Grant’s American craft-style art graces the Iowa State campus with over twelve major art installations and fifty individual works of art. Sarah’s education includes a BFA in print making and drawing, a MA in printmaking, and a MFA in painting from the University of Iowa where she studied with noted Iowa printmakers Mauricio Lasansky and Virginia Myers. Grant incorporated her company Sticks in 1992. In addition to public art, her company’s functional and object art is now represented in over 100 galleries nationwide. Written by Lucinda Scholten, University Museums Docent

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