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Love

"Love" has had a makeover, and "Grandfather's Horse" is looking good, too.

The two outdoor sculptures earned their beauty treatments from intense interaction with Kansas weather and an adoring public given to patting, climbing and sitting on them.

So it was off to an arts spa of sorts: Russell-Marti Conservation Services of Missouri, whose experts do yearly maintenance — both on-campus and off — for all of WSU's outdoor sculptures.

Now, "Love" and "Grandfather's Horse" are returning to campus after seven months away; they'll be welcomed back with a public unveiling and rededication on Wednesday, April 28. The event is sponsored by the Ulrich Museum of Art and the Student Government Association, which funded the restoration project.

Grandfather's Horse

David Butler, director of the Ulrich, says that although the two sculptures have received routine maintenance since their acquisition by the museum in the mid-'70s, it was time for more serious renovations.

"It's like your car," he says. "It goes slowly, and you don't really notice until you get a new car."

"Love," done in 1980 by Robert Indiana, is one of many sculpted versions of Indiana's 1966 painting. With its tilted "O" representing eternity through a never-ending circle, Indiana's stylized typographic took on popular icon status in the early '70s and was seen on T-shirts, posters and even a three-cent stamp.

Cast in aluminum with a finish that initially resembled a brand-new car, the "Love" sculpture that WSU owns has been dismantled, cleaned, refinished and repainted its original blue and green. It will be reinstalled north of Grace Wilkie Hall.

John Kearney's "Grandfather's Horse" was sculpted in 1973 in honor of a Kearney ancestor (one of the founders of Coffeyville, Kan.). It's made out of car bumpers found in auto salvage yards.

Think about how a '70s car bumper would look now, Butler says.

So the stainless steel and chrome horse has been taken apart and had some parts replaced. The refurbishers had to make molds of the original pieces for the work. "Grandfather's Horse" will be returned to its home west of Hubbard Hall.

Both sculptures were also reconfigured with weep holes added so they wouldn't hold water, Butler says.

"Everyone will be amazed at how beautiful they look," says Butler.

The unveiling and rededication ceremony for "Love" and "Grandfather's Horse" will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 28, between Grace Wilkie Hall and the Heskett Center. Elizabeth King, vice president of university advancement, and Chad Mullet, Student Government Association president, will speak. For more information, call the Ulrich Museum at 978-3664.

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