About The Stuart Collection
The collection results from an innovative partnership between the university and the Stuart Foundation. Under an agreement forged in 1982, the entire campus may be considered as sites for commissioned sculpture. It is further distinguished from a traditional sculpture garden by integration of some of the projects with university buildings. With the enthusiastic cooperation of the UCSD Department of Visual Arts, and additional financial support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Russell Foundation, the Lannan Foundation, the California Arts Council, the Stuart Collection Colleagues and many other organizations and individuals, the collection has initiated and completed and impressive range of projects. The selection of artists for commissions is based on the advice of the Stuart Foundation Advisory Committee, which is composed art professionals of international stature. The committee periodically invites artists to conceive and develop proposals with the assistance of the Stuart Collection staff.
Projects that are chosen for realization by the advisory committee are then submitted to a campus review process. The chancellor gives final approval on all commissions. Throughout the proposal, design and construction processes, artists select and tailor their work to a specific UCSD site. Great care is taken to incorporate the university's long- and short-range plans while maintaining the integrity of the art and providing provocative, thoughtful, and carefully considered additions to the fabric of campus life. Many of the artists who have designed works for the collection are associated with movements or attitudes- particularly the various manifestations of conceptual art pioneered in the 1970's- which are seldom represented in public sculpture collections. A significant number of the artists have been better known for their work in other areas before creating their first permanent outdoor sculpture for the Stuart Collection.
The 1,200-acre UCSD campus is located in La Jolla in northern San Diego on a dramatic mesa above the Pacific Ocean. It contains natural chaparral-filled canyons, eucalyptus groves, urban plazas, and green lawns. The campus architecture ranges from California cottages, World War II barracks, and structures from the fifties and sixties to more recent buildings influenced by postmodern architecture. Since its establishment in 1960, UCSD has emerged as one of the leading institutions of higher education in the United States. Including the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the School of Medicine, and the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, UCSD now has an enrollment of more than 25,000 graduate and undergraduate students and is known worldwide for its research strengths in a variety of disciplines.
"As UCSD increases in size and stature, so the Stuart Collection continues to add provocative new works to the landscape, reflecting the quality, ideals, and spirit of the university."
Richard C. Atkinson, UC President 1995-2003 & UCSD Chancellor 1980-1995