A walking sculpture tour with an open schedule
Cache Valley residents looking for something to do for free that is potentially enjoyable and close to home can consider taking the self-guided sculpture tour at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art.
Casey Allen, registrar and webmaster for the museum, said taking the tour is similar to going on a miniature adventure.
“It takes you places on campus where you’ve never been before,” he said. “And you see so many different styles of art through these sculptors.”
Caine College of the Arts former employee Sally Stocker said the sculpture tour highlights the outdoor and indoor sculptures not housed within the museum itself, with the exception of the sculpture “Klompen.”
Allen said Klompen is made of wooden shoes and is a popular attraction at the museum.
He said he was surprised at the amount students who don’t know about “Klompen” or who have never even been inside the museum.
Stocker said both the museum staff and the USU Student Wellness Center staff worked together to create the four different walking routes for the tour.
“Each route is a different distance and begins and ends at the museum in the Fine Arts Center,” she said.
Allen said each of the four tour routes vary in length and get progressively longer.
“The longer you walk, the more sculptors you will be able to see,” he said.
Allen said the versatility is something he really likes about this tour.
“Those interested in taking one of these tours can go online to the (museum) website and download any or all of the routes as well as a guide, which describes each sculpture, including history, artist and any other interesting tidbits about that particular piece,” Stocker said.
Allen said information about the tour is available on smartphones, so patrons can read information about the sculptures as they take the tour. He said for those who would like a hard copy of the material, there are resources available at the museum.
There was a tour similar to this one, Allen said, but it’s been dormant for about 10 years. He said Stocker had the idea to revive the tour.
With so many new sculptures and existing ones being moved around campus, Allen said the tour needed an update.
Stocker said the idea to improve the sculpture tour came to her during the summer as she was thinking about all the things USU has to offer.
“I had seen the previous sculpture tours, which were all hard copy and needed updating,” she said. “I wanted to do it in a different way, utilizing the web, and working on reaching a greater audience.”
She said she thought it would be fun and interesting to highlight the various sculptures on campus.
Allen said some sculptures are not included in the tour at the moment because they are being relocated.
“I plan to revise the tour in April or May of next year and include those sculptures that were not included this time,” he said.
Stocker said she believes the tour benefits the community and USU students, by giving them an opportunity to tour what she thinks is a beautiful campus, and become acquainted with all the artwork the museum has to offer.
“I believe that art is an expression of the human soul,” Stocker said. “The arts, in all shapes — music, art, theater — feeds the soul and helps the world to be a better place.”
– karlee.ulrich@aggiemail.usu.edu