Inside Iowa State

May 24, 2007

'What We Love about Iowa State' mural on display

by Diana Pounds

The large and exceedingly colorful Sticks mural, "What We Love About Iowa State," is now on display in the Christian Petersen Art Museum in Morrill Hall.

Workers hang the mural in the Christian Peterson Art Museum in Morrill Hall. The mural is in the Roy and Bobbi Reiman Public Art Gallery on the ground floor.

The mural, commissioned as part of Iowa State's sesquicentennial celebration, was created by artist Sarah Grant with the assistance of her designers at Sticks, the nationally recognized sculptural art studio in Des Moines.

It's a celebration of all kinds of things, quotes and phrases that generations of Iowa Staters love about their alma mater. The Hub, the swans, central campus, class rings, sports teams, Telephone Trophy, farm animals, the cemetery, binary system, M.J. Riggs famous "learn to live a life" quote, even test takers' trusty Blue Books are among beloved items memorialized on the mural.

What else do you love?

The mural is 6 feet by 8 feet and contains hundreds of images. However, if you can't find your Iowa State favorite on the mural, look left of the mural for the table with yellow Post-it Notes and pens. Scribble what you love about Iowa State on a note and stick it to the wall, with all the other postscript comments.

Mural destinations

The mural will be on display on the ground floor of the museum until August, when it will become part of the ISU exhibit at the Iowa State Fair (Aug. 9-19). It will be exhibited in Beardshear Hall in the entry to the president's office through spring of 2008 and may travel to other buildings on campus after that.

Christian Petersen Museum hours are Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Lithographs for sale

Sticks also created 150 limited edition framed lithographs of the mural. They can be viewed and purchased through the Sticks web site at www.sticks.com.

The "What We Love About Iowa State," Sticks mural is currently on display in the Christian Petersen Art Museum.