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Texas Tech Public Art

Oblique Intersection. Photo by Maky Haynes

Texas Tech is well-known for being a beautiful campus; however, that wasn’t always the case. Texas Tech University was once regarded as one of the ugliest college campuses. In 1988, The TTU Board of Regents initiated the Public Art Program and Texas Tech began to flourish. This program required that for every new major capital project, 1% of its budget will go to public art on campus. As a result, Texas Tech has almost all original artwork, which only adds to our already beautiful campus.

The Tornado of Ideas

The Tornado of Ideas is a dynamic and moving piece on campus. It is located in the “Free Speech Area” on campus where students, faculty, and visitors are encouraged to speak their mind, make change, and listen to others. This piece is intended to help spark meaningful conversation with the onlookers. Furthermore, The Tornado of Ideas contains different controversial books and ideas like Charles Darwin’s evolution mainstay “On the Origin of Species,” the Bible, the Quran, and the autobiography of Malcolm X. This piece has done exactly what the sculptor, Tom Otterness, intended when he created this piece in 2004. For the past 16 years it has sparked conversations, debate, and controversy.

Oblique Intersection

Oblique Intersection is one of the newest pieces on campus. Not only is it new, but it is one of the largest pieces of public art on Texas Tech campus. This piece weighs between 5,000 and 7,000 pounds. This incredible piece really merges art with architecture. It is meant to show the structure of the Experimental Sciences Building II that it is placed directly in front of; however, this piece looks completely different from each and every angle as you walk past it. Oblique Intersection is an interactive piece and you can actually walk up a few of the steps. Done by Lead Pencil Studio, this sculpture took them around 18 months to create. This piece has only been on campus for a short time, but I have a feeling it will be well known and a loved piece of our Public Art Collection.

The Stages of Human Life

Glenna Goodacre, a famous Lubbock local, created the Stages of Human Life. Glenna is a famous American sculpture who even has a street named after her in Lubbock for her success. This is not her only piece on campus or Lubbock, but it really depicts her talent and passion for art. This piece depicts the 7 stages of human life, and is made specifically for the College of Human Sciences. There is a mother and daughter, a teenage girl, a business man, two people in love, and an elderly man with his dog. These sculptures are all life size and incredibly realistic. This artwork has added beauty to Texas Tech since 1999, by being one of the first things you see entering campus.

Story by: Maky Haynes, Broadcast & Multi-Media for Campus Live

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