Client: College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa
Location: Iowa City, IA, United States
Completion date: 2020
Artwork budget: $450,000
Project Team
Artist
Gail Simpson
Actual Size Artworks
Artist
Aristotle Gerorgiades
Actual Size Artworks
Landscape Architect
Dean Proctor
Vandewalle & Assoc.
Overview
People and plants joining to create medicine inspired this site design and sculpture for the College of Pharmacy at the University of Iowa. The sculpture is based on a mortar and pestle, set into a bed of medicinal plants and a path. The pathways include an except of the poem “Remember” by Joy Harjo, alumnus of the University and first Native American US Poet Laureate.
Goals
The goal was to create artwork a spatial experience that expressed the nature of the research and educational mission of the College of Pharmacy. We started with the idea of passing through a bed of plants that rises up to meet us, culminating in a vessel that opens and contains us.
Process
Actual Size Artworks worked with Landscape Architect Dean Proctor to design this entry plaza and sculpture. We worked with the campus team for the landscaping and the Public Art Incubator on fabrication and installation.