By Bessie King
Either to walk through it, study the art work in, or sit and nap in the grassy areas around it, the Sculpture Garden, behind the Curry Student Center, is the top choice for “\Best Outdoor Hangout.
Open since September 1997, the 42,000-square-foot park contains different types of trees, a man-made stream and seasonal flowers. But the highlight of the garden is its collection of sculptures and a fountain.
One of the most popular pieces is the “Orb” or “big black ball” as many students call it. The orb-shaped fountain was designed by Kathleen Van Deusan, a Colorado artist, and made by Robert Shure, who also produced the Cy Young statue in front of Churchill Hall.
There are other sculptures such as the “Bird in Flight” by Mexican artist Leonardo Nierman, “David Playing the Harp” by Israeli artist Victor Halvani and the “Reclining Man” donated by Blake Edwards. But this highlight would not exist if Stanley Young and his wife Barbara had not donated the pieces.
Young, a 1946 graduate, has donated other artwork to the university, including the three dimensional mural hanging in the student center called “University Perspective” by artist Patrick Hughes. Once the university received the art pieces Richard Meyer and William Pressley designed the park.
Chuck Doughdy, director of landscape services, said the landscape services crew, composed of 11 people, cares for the park and all of the university’s landscapes on a day to day basis. In the spring the crew plants daffodils and tulips to add color in the garden. In the summer the perennial plant hostea, characterized for its blue and green foliage, and impatiens flowers substitute the spring bulbs.
As well as planting and cleaning the park, the crew maintains the various types of trees in the garden which include birch trees, magnolia trees and dawn redwood trees. There is also a man-made stream in the garden created not only for aesthetic reasons but for recognizing history.
The stream and tide mill represent the Stony Brook Tributary, which originally drained Roxbury and now runs underground. The stream is home to about a dozen goldfish that live there year round, feed from the natural environment and protect themselves under the stream bridge leading to afterHOURS during bad weather.
The garden is in between the student center and the Orange line tracks, making it the first glimpse of campus for anyone entering form the Columbus Parking Garage. Visitors and the Northeastern community enjoy this first glimpse because the space is so unique and so natural that it is unexpected for a city school, Doughdy said. Whether it is warm or cold, the garden provides a place to escape the noise and rush of campus.
“It is great to come back here to relax, see the fish and the flowers, appreciate the art work, and feel like you are not in the city for a while,” said Nayeli Vivancos, a sophomore international affairs major.
