He spoke with Gordon Hanes, a former trustee, who became enthusiastic about establishing an area for outdoor sculpture around the new auditorium. The Hanes Foundation provided landscaping for the project and, in 1981, Gordon Hanes proposed that the first piece of sculpture be chosen through a national competition funded by him and conducted by the university. The piece is composed of geometric elements, flat planes whose surfaces are brushed. This surface articulation interacts with the sunlight and enlivens each form, so that the simple shapes offer an endless array of readings. Hand carved from cherry, its title appropriately communicates its welcoming and transitional function.
Many artists undergo startling stylistic changes during the course of their life's work.
Garden Ruins is a strong, emotive piece composed of giant stones. It is a monument to a previous time and culture, a romantic statement, filled with nostalgia and grandeur. Sirius B. It is the most ambitious public sculpture on the campus and, as is the case with all of Mitchell's work, unites several aspects of African culture with contemporary western sculptural concerns. Mitchell has stated that the basic form of Po Tolo comes from his contact with the architectural remains of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, in particular their thin, stone, serpentine walls. This piece also is in the vocabulary of the most recent public art.