The Marriott Library is designing a sculpture garden to display U students’ artwork.
The project will begin construction in May 2015 and finish Fall Semester of that year. Funding for the project came from donations by Katherine W. Dumke, who is also the namesake for the Fine Arts and Architecture Library.
Heidi Brett, spokesperson for the Marriott Library, said the designers are working to make the sculpture garden a one-of-a-kind gallery space, as well as a place for students to study. It will be accessible during the cold months on the inside and have an outdoor part for warmer weather. Brett said it’s “an extraordinary project.”
Greg Hatch, head of the Dumke Fine Arts and Architecture Library, said because the U was confident they would receive the funding for this project, they asked students from the College of Architecture to get involved in designing the new space. The sculpture garden will be built on the second floor of the Marriott Library, adjacent to the Architecture Library and extending into the courtyard.
“The U is moving in the direction of an arts and visually engaged campus,” Hatch said.
One studio design class has been working since summer to come up with concepts for the garden. Hatch said they had three criteria for the design: furniture that could be moved around; spaces in the design that could display 3-D artwork, with potential spaces for projected art pieces; and a garden feature with environmentally sustainable materials ranging from plastics and metals to earth-grown materials, stones and ceramics.
The student architects had the freedom to be imaginative and came up with eight “astonishing” designs. Four of those designs were chosen and combined together, with ideas continuing to develop. Hatch said the intention of this project from the beginning was for it to be student-oriented. He wants students to have the opportunity to gain real-world experience in design.
The student architects of the four designs will meet with members of the Dumke family and staff at the U, as well as the professional architects who will be building the space and representatives of the Marriott Library.
Otto Stefan, a junior in architecture, is one of the students involved in the sculpture garden.
“Most projects end in drawings and models,” Stefan said, “so the opportunity to have aspects of our design built and incorporated into a real-life space is pretty cool.”
Starting next fall, each semester will bring an exhibition of different artwork. Leaders of the project are considering opening up the space for artists in the greater Salt Lake community during summers.
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