Sculpture Collection
Alphabetical by artist
Sculpture Collection Maps
Artist:
Dustin Shuler
Title:
The Sea Bee
Map abbreviation:
(SB)
Location:
North lawn of Pollak Library
Created:
1990
Dedication:
October 2002
Materials:
salvaged fuel ship
Dimensions: 89" x 90" x 132"
Acquisition:
On indefinite loan from the artist's estate
The original 12-ton version of The Sea Bee towered 32-feet high in the midst of the Allendale Shopping Center parking lot in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. David W. Bermant, then president of National Shopping Centers, commissioned the sculpture in 1990, and it remained a somewhat controversial local landmark until September 2002 when the shopping plaza’s new owners asked that it be removed to make room for more parking. Shuler supervised the dismantling, preserving only the very tip of the ship’s bow and giving it to Cal State Fullerton on long-term loan.
The plaque at the original site informed visitors that artist Dustin Shuler “believes in art that puts everyday things out of context, such as a ship rising out of a sea of cars in the parking lot of a mall”—or poking out of the landscaping on a California campus.
Artist:
Eugene Sturman
Title:
Thermalo Vortex, 1984–85
Map abbreviation:
(TV)
Location:
Atrium between McCarthy Hall and Dan Black Hall
Created:
1984-85
Installation:
1994
Materials:
steel, copper, nuts, and bolts
Dimensions:
121" x 61" x 36"
Acquisition:
Gift of Louise and Richard Newquist
“Sturman’s genius,” writes the San Francisco Examiner, “ is exploiting the play between the past and future.” This design and these materials have roots in both modern satellites and ancient geometric forms. Coupling a mixture of alchemist notions and the makings of very old nautical instruments, Thermalo Vortex creates what the artist calls, “a space-age, three-dimensional language.” These almost whimsical results evoke a visual simplicity with metaphysical twist.*
Eugene Sturman (1945– ) is a highly respected and internationally known artist proficient in a vast variety of media and materials. He earned his B.F.A. in Fine Arts at Alfred University in 1967 and his M.F.A. in Fine Arts at the University of New Mexico in 1969. Later the artist studied printing at the Tamarind Lithography workshop. He has taught at CSU Long Beach State and UCLA. Recognized for his outdoor sculpture and public art—including Homage to Cabrillo: Venetian Quadrant, commissioned by the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency—Sturman’s work has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
*Al March, "A glimmer of the future of sculpture," San Francisco Examiner, August 23, 1982.
Artist:
Stanislav Szukalski
Title:
Imploration
Map abbreviation:
(I)
Location:
East entrance to Visual Art Center, Building D
(The accesibility of this sculpture may be impacted by Visual Arts Complex renovations)
Created:
1914
Dedication:
October 2006
Materials:
bronze
Dimensions:
76” x 19” x 19”
Acquisition:
Gift of Archives Szukalski and Decker Studios
Stanislav Szukalski (1893–1987) was born in Warta, Poland, and first came to the United States as a teenager. Living in Chicago, he became one of the city’s renaissance luminaries that included Ben Hecht, Carl Sandburg and Clarence Darrow. The oldest work in the Cal State Fullerton sculpture collection, Imploration was sculpted when Szukalski was only twenty-one years old. In the 1930s, he returned to Poland amidst great acclaim and was given his own museum by the Polish government.
Because of the German invasion of 1939, he fled Poland, returning to the United States and leaving behind an entire oeuvre that was never recovered. Szukalski lived out the remainder of his life in California, without recognition and obsessively involved with writing and creating artwork intended to prove an obscure theory that all humankind came from Easter Island after the biblical floods. This figure is sculpted in the nude with an emphasis placed on the hands and arms that are articulated to express tension. The contours of the figure are made so that the light reflects across the surface activating and even abstracting the form in a technique similar to French artist Rodin.
Artist:
Michael Todd
Title:
Homage to David Smith
Map abbreviation:
(HDS)
Location:
North of Visual Arts Complex, behind Building A
(temporary location)
Created:
1973
Installation:
March 2000
Materials:
brushed aluminum
Dimensions:
101" diameter
Acquisition:
At the conclusion of the1973 exhibition, the Art Alliance purchased this sculpture for the campus. Acquisition funds were provided by individual member donations.
This sculpture was originally exhibited in the Main Art Gallery exhibition, Michael Todd: Circle Series 1970-1972. For Todd, the circle is an arena in which to retrieve harmony from chaos and refers to it as a cosmos—using the space within and suggesting the larger space beyond. This work is influenced by Japanese abstraction and formalist concerns and is a tribute to a sculptor David Smith, much admired by the artist. Similar to other sculptures in the Cal State Fullerton collection, it has strong geometric forms but because of its symbolic references it is more connected to the utopian abstract styles of early modernism rather than the geometric reductions of minimalism.
Michael Todd (1935– ) earned his B.F.A. from the University of Notre Dame and a M.A. degree from UCLA. He went on to study further in Paris under a Fulbright scholarship. He has taught in Vermont and in California. His sculpture has been shown throughout the United States and is represented in museum collections including the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena.
Artist:
Richard Turner
Title:
Wall Gazing Gallery
Map abbreviation:
(WGG)
Location:
Courtyard of the Visual Arts Center
(Not currently on view)
Created:
1983/88 (rebuilt 2016)
Dedication:
April 1988
Materials:
cedar and corrugated steel
Dimensions:
144" x 144" x 168"
Acquisition:
The original temporary installation was completed for the Main Art Gallery exhibition, "The House that Art Built." Five years later the permanent installation was made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Art in Public Places program.
The title of this environmental sculpture is derived from a Buddhist story about the legendary saint Bodhidharma, who is said to have meditated for seven years, gazing unblinkingly at the wall of a cave. Five wooden steps rise from the surface of the courtyard; then six steps descend into the water of the reflecting pool. The viewer thus climbs up then down toenter the optimal viewing space. The parallel and concave channels of the corrugated metal roof are ued to funnel water so that it falls down likerain into the geometrically shaped pool. Viewers are encouraged to sit in the enclosure and to look out through the falling water at the wall beyond—a quiet meditation.
Richard Turner (1943–) spent his early school years in Vietnam and Taiwan. He earned his degree from the University of Michigan. One year in was spent in India on a Fulbright Scholarship and the next five years traveling in Burma, Thailand and China. Another of his outside pieces can be seen in Los Angeles in McArthur Park. He currently teaches at Chapman College.
Artist:
(Unknown)
Title:
Double Scoop Ice Cream Cone
Map abbreviation:
(DS)
Location:
Visual Arts Center
(Not currently on view)
Installation:
February 1973
Materials:
Fiberglas
Dimensions: 138" (h) x 38" (diameter)
This campus landmark is the second of two such “found” sculptures that became part of the Cal State Fullerton Art Department.
As legend has it, the original was rescued in the late 1960s from the roof of the demolished Brookdale Ice Cream store at the corner of Chapman and State College. Conceptually, this literal visualization of a gigantic ice-cream treat fits in with pop-art movement. This earlier version stood for years at the entrance to the art department’s first temporary quarters until it was stolen. The thieves were not entirely successful; the top scoop of “ice cream” bounced off the truck during their hasty get-away and was left behind.
In 1973, then-gallery director Dextra Frankel discovered an identical piece during her search for salvaged signs to include in the exhibition “Neon Signs & Symbols.” Frankel had this new version brought to campus and installed in its present location. Professor Don Lagerberg gave the ice cream scoops their original strawberry and mint “flavors” which later were changed to chocolate and vanilla by Dean Jerry Samuelson. It is now repainted annually each spring as part of ArtsWeek, with the "flavors" chosen by the Dean of the College of the Arts.
Artist:
(Unknown)
Title:
Fallen David
Map abbreviation:
(FD)
Location:
North of the Education/Classroom Building
Dedication:
November 1989
Material:
white Carrara marble
Dimensions:
180" (h) if standing
Acquisition: Donated by Forest Lawn Memorial Parks through the efforts of faculty member Don Lagerberg. Steve Rose assisted with the installation.
This replica of Michelangelo’s David originally was installed at Forest Lawn Memorial Parks in Cypress, California, and toppled during the October 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake. The ten-ton sculpture suffered irreparable damage and the remaining fragments were installed on campus in the approximate configuration in which they fell. As a fallen monument, it serves as a reminder of the countless broken monuments that have survived through history. Similar fragments of classical sculpture, unearthed in Italy and displayed in the garden of Lorenzo de Medici, were a source of inspiration to Michelangelo. This replica is made of the same type of Italian Carrera marble as Michelangelo’s original, contributing to the sensuality of the sculpture despite its fallen state.
Artist:
DeWain Valentine
Title:
Diamond Column
Map abbreviation:
(NSC)
Created:
1980
Location:
Newquist Sculpture Court, Visual Arts Center
(Not currently on view)
Installation:
1998
Materials:
glass and granite
Dimensions:
84" x 45" x 8-7/8"
Acquisition:
Gift of Thomas W. Knaup
Diamond Column was the first outdoor sculpture commissioned by the Newquists. Valentine actually completed the piece three times. The first version had a concrete base that proved unsatisfactory—water leeched from the ground up between the panes. A pane on the second version, which had a black marble base, cracked. The third version, finished with a granite base, is seen here. A sculptor adopting minimalist formal concerns, Valentine often works with glass in simple geometric forms. The rectangular glass in Diamond Column has a green tint like the ocean and the overlapping panes may be seen as a sequence of waves. The base of the sculpture is placed in a reflecting pool underlining the reflective surface of the glass.
DeWain Valentine (1936–2022 ) received a B.F.A. from the University of Colorado, a fellowship to Yale University Yale-Norfolk Art School, and a M.F.A. from the University of Colorado . He has lectured at several major universities, and his art career has produced an extensive list of exhibitions and citations. His works are included in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the University of Colorado, among many others.
Artist:
Jay S. Willis
Title:
Lemonade
Map abbreviation:
(L)
Location:
West of Pollak Library
Created:
1982
Dedication:
May 1982
Materials:
painted steel
Dimensions:
134" x 108" x 48"
Acquisition:
The Art Alliance, using sculpture acquisition funds, purchased this piece from the artist and donated it to the university
This sculpture reflects the artist’s interest at that time in psychology and perceptual illusion . It resembles the geometric forms of both constructivist and minimalist art movements. The rectagle is an element of this sculpture and the artist considered rectagles as frames for windows on the world expressing visual order. During the Spring months the yellow coloring of Lemonade stands out in contrast against the lavender blooms of the Jacaranda trees
Jay Willis (1940– ) earned his B.A. degree at the University of Illinois, Urbana and M.A. degree at U.C. Berkeley. He previously taught at the University of Arizona and is professor emeritus of the University of Southern California. His work has been shown in numerous museums and a companion piece, Limeade, can be seen in the Brea City Art in Public Places Collection on the corner of Imperial Boulevard and Arovista Avenue
