Artwork commissioned for UWP's Ullsvik Hall
PLATTEVILLE - The Wisconsin Arts Board Percent for Arts Committee of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville has recently commissioned a major artwork for the newly renovated Ullsvik Hall.
David Dahlquist, of Des Moines, Iowa, will create a row of lighted pillars, fashioned like the "Sticking Tommy," or candles the first miners used to light their way in the mines. They will line the southwest entry to Ullsvik Hall. The artwork will be comprised of lighted tubes between nine and 16 feet high. These tubes will extend from terra-cotta-like mounds of books.
The students and faculty of UWP were actively involved in this project through the submitting of titles for the mounds of books. After receiving the titles of different books that are currently being used for teaching and learning at UWP, Dahlquist reviewed the titles and made selections for his artwork.
Dahlquist said, "The lighted columns create a "portal" to Ullsvik Hall. They form both a physical and iconic entrance that pays homage to the lead miners of early Platteville and southwestern Wisconsin. The candles guide people through the darkness into the light that is education and the university experience."
Dahlquist's work will be a part of the Percent for Art Program. This program was established in 1980 for the purpose of placing artwork in the public setting, both to beautify our public buildings and urban environments, and to draw attention to the wealth of artistic experience within our region. As a part of this program, two-tenths of one percent of the total construction costs of new state buildings, or renovations projects is designated for the commission or purchase of artwork.
Linda James, a professor at UWP and member of the Wisconsin Arts Board Percent for Art Committee for the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, said that Dahlquist "has created an elegant and unusual proposal that, when completed, will symbolize the merging of education and mining, evoking our university's past."
Dahlquist's work is scheduled to be completed during the spring and summer of 2008.
Contact: Linda James, Wisconsin Arts Board Percent for Arts Committee for the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, (608) 342-1781, jamesl@uwplatt.edu Prepared by: Nicole Eggebeen, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, eggebeen@uwplatt.edu
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