Western Washington University Public Sculpture Collection


The Western Washington University Outdoor Sculpture Collection is a public sculpture collection founded in 1960. The collection contains thirty-six public sculptures spanning 190 acres of the Western Washington University campus.

History

In 1957, the board of trustees of Western Washington University established a policy that encouraged public art on the campus. The first work added to the collection, commissioned by Paul Thiry, was James Fitzgerald's Rain Forest, in 1960.
Campus architect Ibsen Nelsen commissioned Isamu Noguchi's "Skyviewing Sculpture" in the 1960s.
Funding for the acquisition of the works in the collection came from a combination of sources that included the state's one percent for art law, The Virginia Wright Fund, and the National Endowment for the Arts
The collection is overseen by the director of the university's Western Art Gallery. As of 2015, the director of the collection is Hafþór Yngvason.

Sculptures in the collection

  1. "Rain Forest," by James FitzGerald
  2. "Totem," by Norman Warsinske
  3. "Wall Relief", by Norman Warsinske
  4. "Scepter", by Steve Tibbetts
  5. "Sky Viewing Sculpture", by Isamu Noguchi
  6. "Steam Work for Bellingham-II, by Robert Morris
  7. "Alphabeta Cube", by Fred Bassetti
  8. "The Man Who Used to Hunt Cougars for Bounty", by Richard Beyer
  9. "Log Ramps", by Lloyd Hamrol
  10. "For Handel", by Mark di Suvero
  11. "India", by Anthony Caro
  12. "Sasquatch", by Rod Pullar
  13. "Flank II", by Mia Westerlund Roosen
  14. "Garapata", by John Keppelman
  15. "Mindseye", by Mark di Suvero
  16. "Stone Enclosure: Rock Rings", by Nancy Holt
  17. "Curve / Diagonal", by Robert Maki
  18. "Normanno Column", by Beverly Pepper
  19. "Normanno Wedge", by Beverly Pepper
  20. "Wright's Triangle", by Richard Serra
  21. "Untitled Box", by Donald Judd
  22. "Bayview Station", by George Trakas
  23. "The Islands of the Rose Apple Tree Surrounded by the Oceans of the World for You, Oh My Darling", by Alice Aycock
  24. "Two-part Chairs, Right Angle Version ", by Scott Burton
  25. "Untitled", by Ulrich Rückriem
  26. "Untitled", by Meg Webster
  27. "Manus", by Magdalena Abakanowicz
  28. "Feats of Strength", by Tom Otterness
  29. "Stadium Piece", by Bruce Nauman
  30. "Bigger Big Chair", by David Ireland
  31. "Burning Island", by Keaton Martin
  32. "Nooksack Middle Fork", by Claude Zevas