Campus ... or Canvas? Art is All Around Us

Artist Mark di Suvero once described his work as "painting in three dimensions." Orion is located in front of the University of Michigan Museum of Art on State Street. Since it is meant to be viewed from a variety of angles and positions, the artist paid careful attention to the balance of forms and space. (Photo: Joel Johnson, Michigan Photography.)

While wild wolverines exist in Oregon, Montana, Washington, Colorado, Wyoming, California, and Canada, none actually live in Michigan. This bronze specimen keeps a watchful eye on North Campus. The statue was a gift of the Engineering Class of 2001. A similar wolverine, also by Dan Heikkinen, can be found inside Crisler Arena. (Photo: Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography.)

Visitors to the Duderstadt Center are surely inpsired by the "totemic vertical presence" of Triad Ritual at Pierpont Commons. Artist Beverly Pepper designed the cast-iron forms to "stand like gods and goddesses against the sky." The sculpture was a gift of the artist and the Engineering Class of 1937. (Photo: Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography.)

This colorful mural in Palmer Commons was completed by students in the aptly titled class "Art in Public Spaces/Big Paintings." Note the pair of elevator doors at the bottom of the image to get a sense of scale. (Photo: Joel Johnson, Michigan Photography.)

Physics professor Jens Zorn created this bronze piece to commemorate fundamental research on anti-matter done by U-M professor Arthur Rich. You can find this sculpture in the courtyard between Randall Laboratory and West Hall. It was a gift of the Department of Physics, the U-M administration, and family and friends of Arthur Rich. (Photo: Joel Johnson, Michigan Photography.)

This fountain on the Ingalls Mall was a gift from alumnus Charles Baird in memory of Thomas McIntyre Cooley, former professor and dean of the Law School. The piece has been fondly called "Ye Gods and Little Fishes" by U-M students. The bronze figures depict Father Triton and his sons (plus one) on a holiday excursion. (Photo: Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography.)

This North Campus piece can be found outside the Lurie Engineering Center. "In America," said artist Alexander Liberman, "sculpture must compete with the size of our country and our buildings." Begob was a gift of the Engineering Class of 1945 and NROTC classes starting in 1942. (Photo: Eric Bronson, Michigan Photography.)

The Sai Sundial strikes a serene note next to the pond at the Moore School of Music on North Campus. Members of Sigma Alpha Iota, an international music fraternity for women, donated the 1971 bronze piece to the University. (Photo: Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography.)

This limestone bench offers cool shade just west of Hatcher Library. It arrived on campus in 1939 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of U-M's Xi Psi Phi dental fraternity. The names of the six dental students who donated the much-weathered piece are inscribed on the bench. The artist is unknown. (Photo: Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography.)

Alexander Ruthven, director of U-M's Natural History Museum when the building was constructed in 1928, envisioned a pair of lions flanking its doors. But Carleton Angell chose pumas, once native to Michigan. The original pumas were installed in 1940; in 2007 new bronze pumas were cast from molds of the originals, thanks to the generosity of alumni Jagdish C. and Saroj Janveja. (Photo: Scott Soderberg, Michigan Photography.)

This piece commemorates a body of pioneering work in quantam electrodynamics performed by U-M's H. Richard Crane and his students. G-2 can be found in the courtyard between Randall Laboratory and West Hall. (Photo: Joel Johnson, Michigan Photography)

The Hamilton Fountain is located on the Diag. The figures in the bas relief represent Youth, Labor, Poetry, and Philosophy. Artist Albin Polasek sought to make something "dignified, with a touch of youthful delight." The fountain was a gift of alumnus Francis Hamilton, who served as mayor of Ann Arbor from 1905-07. It was unveiled in 1919. (Photo: Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography.)

This provocative 1994 work was the first Holocaust memorial placed at a public university in the United States. "The figure is in some sort of misery, wrapped up entirely in [itself]," Baskin has said. The sculpture can be found east of Rackham Hall on the Raoul Wallenberg Plaza, named for the distinguished alumnus and humanitarian. The Ann Arbor Holocaust Memorial Foundation donated the sculpture to the University. (Photo: Eric Bronson, Michigan Photography.)

Requiem stands between Alumni Memorial Hall and the Frankel Wing of the University of Michigan Musuem of Art. The 2004 bronze sculpture is part of the UMMA collections and was a gift of Jack A. and Noreen Rounick. (Photo: Joel Johnson, Michigan Photography.)

Members of the Michigan community have the Class of 1965 and the artist, a 1936 U-M graduate, to thank for this much-loved campus icon. Although seemingly massive and immovable, the Cube rotates on its axis, given a gentle push. (Photo: Joel Johnson, Michigan Photography).