April 26, 2010

Bicycle tour of campus sculpture, landmarks set

by Andrea Hahn

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Maybe you walk or bicycle past that metal sculpture on campus every day, sometimes noticing it, sometimes not.

The third annual “Tour D’Art,” a bicycle tour of sculpture and landmarks on and around the Southern Illinois University Carbondale campus, will make sure participants take a minute to appreciate it.

The event, sponsored by the SIUC University Museum, is 1-4 p.m. on Saturday, May 1, with registration -- as well as fun and games -- in the Faner Hall breezeway.

Participants who register get a “passport book,” complete with their photos, which includes a guided list of stopping points on the tour. At each stop, participants stamp their passport book with stamps designed by printmaking students in the School of Art and Design.

Some of the designated stops include: Altgeld Hall, Wheeler Hall, the Labyrinth Peace Garden, Student Center Craft Shop, the Buckminster Fuller Dome, Bridge 5 artwork, the Vigorae Sculpture and the Here (Stonehenge) sculptures.

Event coordinator Nate Steinbrink, curator of exhibits for University Museum, said the tour is a fun way to encourage people to notice the art and history around them, and to promote bicycling at the same time.

The Museum Student Groups and the Art History Association sponsor this event. The Fine Arts Activity Fee contributes to funding for the event.