A vigilant monk stands serenely, watching passersby. A young girl sits comfortably, entirely engrossed in the book she is reading. A fearsome crocodile threatens to snap at anyone foolish enough to wander too close. Two herons stride purposefully through ankle-deep water, every move betraying grace through motion. Could this be an extraordinary day at the zoo or at a fantastic park? It just so happens that all of these sights can be witnessed by simply wandering Saint Louis University’s campus and taking in the wonderful statuary that adorns the grounds.
The sculptures and statues that are fixtures on the grounds vary widely in size, material, history and subject matter. They have become so commonplace, however, that students just brush by, recognizing their presence but not taking care to learn anything about them.
“You see them every day, going to your classes. You get used to them, and you never really wonder about them,” sophomore John Hall said. Other than a few standout pieces recognized for their significance on campus, such as the stature of the classical Billiken in front of the Bauman-Eberhard center, most campus statuary is rather glossed over and unrecognized.
This may have to do simply with the placement of the statues themselves. Students going to class tend to stay on the western end of campus. Even those going to lecture halls and science buildings on the east end of Grand Boulevard are only exposed to a fraction of what is on display. More than two thirds of campus statuary is east of Grand Boulevard, and with students not congregating near them, it’s no surprise people don’t know much about them.
This really isn’t the University’s fault, however. “Most are placed according to University President Lawerence Biondi’s, S.J., wishes,” said facilities operations coordinator Susan Vetten, with a chuckle.
Biondi’s wishes aside, other factors come into play. “We can’t always just put them where we want,” said preservation and conservation manager for Saint Louis University Museum of Art Heather Mann. “There are other considerations-utility lines, power lines, buried cable-that have to be looked out for. Still, our overall goal is to create a peaceful, pleasant environment for students to congregate, study and relax,” Mann said.
Where do the statues come from? Some are purchased by Biondi specifically for placement at the University. Funds that the Board of Trustees has allocated precisely for this purposed affords Biondi the opportunity to purchase a few new pieces every year.
“We’re expecting to install a few new ones later this year,” Mann said. Others are given to the University by alums, families or the artists themselves. The famous Billiken in front of Bauman-Eberhard is one such piece. Donated by the family of the artist James Reid after its completion, this statue has become one of the most recognizable pieces on campus, and it is often told that rubbing the belly of the figure will bring good fortune.
Other statues and sculptures are donated by families in memory of former students. The family of Mark Werle, a student killed while attending SLU in 1985, compiled a Mark Werle memorial fund, which called for the construction of a small plaza around Jules Moigniez’s 1852 Bronze figure “Heron On Lotus.” The statue was purchased from a private collection to be permanently placed on site to honor the deceased and give hope and peace to those who come to visit.
Most pieces on campus do not share this noble distinction. Some have been nearly forgotten by people at the University. For example, the collection of jagged and sharply cut metal plates wedged between Monsanto and Shannon Halls can be described as a rather formless, modern sculpture. A close observer may wonder why this piece has no artist nameplate. It’s a question that University is asking as well.
Suspected to be a donation by a student artist, the origins of the piece, as well as the name and the creator, are shrouded in mystery. “We might have a better idea about some of these pieces if we had an adequate staff to catalogue them all,” Mann said, explaining some of the gaps in the University’s knowledge about it’s own art. “Some of the stuff has simply gotten lost. We just don’t know.”
On the other hand, some statues are well taken care of and documented because they have to be. Students may recall a statue of a young woman, who seemed to watch students and passersby as she sat outside of the library. A more astute observer would notice her conspicuous absence this year.
“A couple of students vandalized that statue over the summer holiday,” Mann said, fuming. “It was just great having to call the artist, who was gracious enough to donate the piece and explain that two drunk kids had ripped off the statue’s face and thrown the rest of the statue through a window. She’s being gracious enough to repair it. We expect its return sometime soon.” It’s a good thing, too. “That thing was really creepy with its face gone,” she said.
Some pieces have drawn fire, due to the scene they depict. One piece in particular, on display outside Fusz Hall, shows DeSmet, a Jesuit priest, subjugating the Native-American populace with the power of Christ. Some students find the depiction objectionable. “It’s evil,” sophomore Clark Kirby said, “because I see the priests trying to bring the church to the natives, but all they brought were diseases that killed them.”
More information on the campus statuary may be found at the Saint Louis University Museum of Art.
