New Crouse Hall sculpture highlights Ohio Percent for Art works around UA campus

The University of Akron (UA) campus is home to many public works of art that spark creativity, highlight the University’s campus, and create opportunities for reflection and contemplation in an academic setting. The newest of these works is a large-scale sculpture called “Octahedral Fields,” now on view outside Crouse Hall after an installation this spring and summer.
 
The new work is part of the Ohio Percent for Art Program, which was instituted in 1990 by the Ohio legislature to recognize the state’s responsibility to foster culture and the arts, and to encourage the development of artists and crafters. The law provides for the acquisition, commissioning and installation of works of art for certain new or renovated public buildings. Whenever the legislature appropriates more than $4 million for a public building, the law requires one percent of the total appropriation to be allocated for artwork. The renovation of Crouse Hall, which was completed in 2023 and brought the Departments of Geosciences and Physics into one building, fell into this group of projects.

“We have been fortunate to partner with Ohio Percent of Art on multiple pieces that can be seen in both interior and exterior sites throughout our campus,” said Andrew Hostetler, UA’s director of architecture and design. “The partnership has been a great opportunity to display local and national artists and enhance our community. It provides another opportunity for us to engage students and enrich our physical environment in a meaningful way.”

The Ohio Arts Council administers the state's Percent for Art Program. The contracting agency – in this case, The University of Akron – coordinates all elements of the project, including the planning, formation of a selection committee, implementation of commissions and maintenance. Students and employees of the agency are not eligible to apply. Percent for Art projects are open to artists nationwide, but each agency’s committee can determine if they want to limit submissions to Ohio artists.

UA’s committee for the Crouse Hall project was comprised of Hostetler, Chief Planning and Facilities Officer Stephen Myers, Professor of Geosciences Ira Sasowsky, Professor of Physics Jutta Luettmer-Stathmann and Arnie Tunstall, director of University Galleries, who has been involved with several of UA’s Percent for Art projects.

The committee selected a proposal by artist Michael Marras, who created “Octahedral Fields.” Marras is a full-time metal sculpture artist based in Akron who will have a solo show at Summit ArtSpace in Akron in spring 2025. He previously created artwork for the Boys and Girls Club of Akron and other local youth charities and organizations. He was also commissioned to create three sculptures to commemorate the revitalization of the Cuyahoga River. Liam Kidd, a student in UA’s Myers School of Art, worked as an assistant to Marras during the construction of “Octahedral Fields.”

In his artist statement on the new sculpture, Marras notes the strong connection between his artwork and the geoscience and physics teaching and research that take place inside the building. Crouse Hall’s renovations included the updating of laboratories and classrooms.

“’Octahedral Fields’ … embodies the power of science to uplift our lives along with the educators who cultivate our future,” Marras wrote in his statement. “Many elements of both physics and geosciences are represented, such as time and earth materials.

“Octahedral Fields” is one of 12 pieces of art funded by the Percent for Art program on the UA campus. Other works include:

Construction project/location: Polsky Building
Artwork and medium: “Untitled,” clay mosaic tile
Artist: Jun Kaneko
Completion date: Nov. 15, 1993
From the artist statement: “Clay tile wall has a definite system of visual order and disorder. At a distance the wall reads with a strong sense of order. This same visual order changes to disorder when the wall is viewed closely and the view is obstructed.

Construction project/location: Simmons Hall
Artwork and medium: “Untitled (Signs, Pictures and Elements),” rubbings on painted canvases
Artist: Matt Mullican
Completion date: June 1, 2003
From the artist statement: “‘Untitled (Signs, Pictures and Elements)’ is composed of individual canvas paintings installed over each sound panel. The paintings create three large murals. Each mural has a theme - cosmology, the world, and the weather and the sky. The paintings include rubbings from patterns made by the artist.”

Construction project/location: Jean Hower Taber Student Union
Artwork and medium: “Circulation Paintant,” digital prints, polymer, silicon
Artist: Fabian Marcaccio
Completion date: Feb. 28, 2006
From the artist statement: “‘Circulation Paintant’ is a mural which develops history-telling and abstract base images that change as the viewer walks through the building. The mural ‘accompanies’ the viewer and develops as a fluid passage through the building in real-space time. Digital printing, polymer and silicone materials along with lenticular lens printing work together to create a cinematic experience to accompany the everyday life of the building, its visitors and occupants.”

Construction project/location: Goodyear Polymer Circle
Artwork and medium: “Polymer Circle,” concrete base
Artist: Richfield Landscape
Completion date: June 6, 2006
From the artist statement: none listed for this work. This piece was designed for and installed in the lawn area around the Dale Chihuly sculpture in Goodyear Polymer Circle.

Construction project/location: Auburn West Tower-Biology Building
Artwork and medium: “Double Bond,” oxidized Cor-Ten steel and stainless steel sculpture with a poured concrete base
Artist: David Tonnesen
Completion date: Sept. 24, 2010
From the artist statement: “The proposed sculpture is an organic abstraction of elements from the plant and animal kingdoms blended with the invisible world of subatomic molecules and electron orbits. The barb of a feather, the helix of a horn, the tendril of a vine and the structure of a molecule, all combine as one monumental yet elegant structure, simple yet complex.”

Construction project/location: Guzzetta Hall
Artwork and medium: “Point and Line,” aluminum tube sculpture with waterjet cut plate and polished stainless steel reflectors
Artist: Freecell Architecture
Completion date: March 16, 2012
From the artist statement: “The concept of this piece is to create an armature for dramatic, dance, and musical performances in which the sculpture becomes a collaborator together with the performer(s).”

Construction project/location: National Polymer Research Center
Artwork and medium: “#449, Moment/Momentum/Momentous,” made of linen wrap with a weft of predominantly nylon monofilament line. The warp is hand-painted with dye in a gradient of color evolving from light fuchsia to light lime green.
Artist: Janice Lessman-Moss
Completion date: Oct. 10, 2015
From the artist statement: “The design for the weaving captures a relationship of abstract systems (based on the circle within the square) inspired by my introduction to the creation of the polymer chain. Simple geometric elements reflect the essence of transformation as they evolve from disorder/chaos gradually to create a more formal order or logic. The rainbow of color enhances the sense of metamorphosis and energy.”

Construction project/location: National Polymer Research Center
Artwork and medium: “Fissure diptych,” acrylic, ink, and spray paint on linen.
Artist: Dana Oldfather
Completion date: Oct. 10, 2015
From the artist statement: none listed for this work. From the artist’s website: “I communicate the dilemma of being through landscape. I bring my insides to bear on the outside and trepidation colors the scene. The atmosphere is thick, and the landscape psychedelically tinted like dawn, an eclipse, or a summer storm.”

Construction project/location: National Polymer Research Center
Artwork and medium: “A Synoetic System #7,” pigment/canvas with embedded augmented reality
Artist: Gregory Little
Completion date: Oct. 10, 2015
From the artist statement: none listed for this work. From the artist’s website: “In Gregory Little’s work, science serves art. The work draws from scientific imagery, data and processes while using symmetrical systems of proportion as found in sacred, liturgical and occult works, all meditative images meant to facilitate a contemplative experience.”

Construction project/location: Zook Hall
Artwork and medium: “Flux Chandelier,” interactive LED tubes
Artist: Jen Lewin
Completion date: April 24, 2017
From the artist statement: “‘Flux Chandelier’ is an interactive sculpture composed of clustered, interactive LED tubes. … Each Flux Tube is a standalone device that plugs directly into standard power. Similar to other IOT (Internet of Things) devices, Flux Tubes will be ‘intelligent.’ They will be fully interactive, capable of sensing user movement and animating LEDs based on this movement, as well as communicating with, and responding to their neighbors.”

Construction project/location: University of Akron School of Law
Artwork and medium: “Together in Service and Community,” wraparound mural in vinyl and offset letters
Artist: April Bleakney
Completion date: Jan. 15, 2023
From the artist statement: “The piece embodies the mission of the University of Akron School of Law and highlights local ties and dedication to the community with an inspiring and uplifting energy."

Media contact: Cristine Boyd; cboyd@bj7dian.com; 330-972-6476