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NEWS RELEASE

03-13-03

Contacts:
Mark Engelbrecht, design, (515) 294-7427
Mitchell Squire, architecture, (515) 294-0390
Heather Sauer, design communications, (515) 294-9289
Teddi Barron, News Service, (515) 294-4778

Photographically-enhanced depiction of the sculpture

ISU COLLEGE OF DESIGN ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF PUBLIC ART COMPETITION

AMES, Iowa--The College of Design at Iowa State University has announced the winners of a competition to design public art for the college's completed building addition and renovation project.

Mitchell Squire, assistant professor of architecture, received top honors and a $10,000 commission to produce and install his winning project, "Lawn Ornament."

The work, which will be located on the south lawn of the design building, will be unveiled and dedicated during ceremonies commemorating the college's 25th anniversary in fall 2003.

Design college faculty and staff were invited to submit designs for an interior or exterior piece of public art. Studio artist and printmaker B.J. Nierengarten-Smith, St. Louis, Mo., served as competition juror. Nierengarten-Smith was recently named museum manager of the new Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum. She previously served as executive director and chief curator of Laumeier Sculpture Park, St. Louis.

The competition and artwork are funded through the college's Threshold 2000 capital project, which resulted in new construction of a 250-seat auditorium and three art studios, and renovations to other studio and jury spaces throughout the College of Design building. The Art in State Buildings requirement calls for one-half percent of construction costs to be used for art.

"We thought that a faculty competition for the public art component of the first phase of our building expansion would be an excellent way to celebrate the talents of our collegiate artists and designers," said Mark Engelbrecht, dean of the College of Design. "The results have been gratifying."

For his winning design, Squire will create a pair of life-size, freestanding, three-dimensional line drawings of human figures (one male, one female). An accompanying array of data attempts to describe the figures. The lines and data will be constructed of stainless steel less than one inch thick. Text inscribed on a concrete pad will serve as the base for the ensemble. The art is based on a work by industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss, "The Measure of Man: Human Factors in Design."

The $1,500 second-place prize was awarded to Teresa Paschke, assistant professor of art and design, for "Tactile Pleasures," a proposal to suspend dyed fabric panels from the third-floor ceiling of the design building. The panels would be printed with text and iconography that "communicates human activities unique to the College of Design" and "celebrates the human element within design, that which is made by human hands."

Third place and $1,000 went to Ashley Kyber, assistant professor of landscape architecture, for "ritual, rites and reclamation." Kyber proposed the construction of a rain-catchment system and water garden near the entrance to the college.

Mira Engler, associate professor, and Peter Butler, lecturer, both in landscape architecture, received a $500 honorable mention for their "Silver Series" catalog of proposed souvenirs--ranging from postcards and calendars to more whimsical items, including faculty portrait trading cards--intended to serve as fund-raising and public relations tools in conjunction with the college's 25th anniversary and Silver Challenge fund-raising campaign.

Nierengarten-Smith has been professionally engaged in public art acquisition projects for Iowa State's Art on Campus Program since 1986, helping to secure such sculptures as "Left-Sided Angel" by Stephen DeStaebler, "Balance of Life" by Ned Smyth, and "Start to Finish" by George Greenamyer.

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Note to editors: A downloadable photograph of Mitchell Squire's design for "Lawn Ornament" is available at www.iastate.edu/~nscentral/photos.html