The Lander University Public Sculpture Exhibition seeks to create opportunities for the display of student created public sculptures on campus. Increasing the visibility of student art on campus enlivens and energizes our public spaces, creating a more welcoming environment for all. Public sculpture projects are completed by advanced sculpture students as career-oriented experiences that prepare our students to be working artists who positively contribute to their communities.
A - “Wild Thing” by Sunnie Crook
Artist Statement: When creating my sculpture, I wanted to apply gestural drawing techniques to a 3D piece. These techniques have few limitations and generate movement, bringing life to a piece. I began almost two-dimensionally with a steel rod outline of the profile of a horse, which became the armature. I layered the armature with thinner steel rods to build the form up. I used the steel to define musculature and highlight contralateral movement; evidence of stability and energy. Its leaping prance pose creates space underneath it, making the sculpture visually light and free. The mane and tail, made of sheet metal, contrast with the wrapped body.
Horses, to me, symbolize self-direction, limitless potential, power, and freedom. As I step into my senior year, I am forced to confront my fears and insecurities about leaving the home I’ve found at Lander and my next year of creating. I had similar fears when I left home for college. I know the best thing to do is to move forward confidently and embrace the new powers and freedoms I’m being given. I wanted to visualize this, with the horse as a symbol for this transformative period in my life, and as an equestrian nod to my family in Aiken.
Artist Statement: My proposed sculpture depicts the destruction of the rainforest and nature's power to fight back. The main component is a large metal tree with open holes, symbolizing the damage caused by deforestation. An axe in the tree represents human impact. New copper trees are growing in the holes, symbolizing nature's resilience and regrowth. Copper birds rest on the branches, representing the return of life.
Artist Statement: This sculpture combines public sculpture techniques with painting techniques to combine the two things the artist loved. Designed to make viewers think about the beauty of nature, this sculpture combines elements of trees, grass, sky and water. Lauren graduated in May 2025 with a BFA in Visual Art.
Artist Statement: This is a steel sculpture created using welded steel rods. Throughout the process of creating this sculpture I bent steel rods to create forms to be representational of a seventies style Ford, with the twist of it being a monster truck. This piece was designed to present elements of movement with the use of turning tires, and the truck being in action. There are aspects within this piece that provide visual interest to the viewer from all angles, such as the interior, the body of the truck, and the undercarriage. The key player within this composition is the use of line to create forms. This sculpture is composed entirely with minimal line to create forms without them being enclosed or solid. This is a choice made to show contrast to the viewer of a representational sculpture created using nonrepresentational methods. This piece was created to give the viewer courage and motivation as they pass by it during their day. This sculpture will be displayed on a college campus and the purpose of this piece of art, and many pieces of mine is to make a positive impact on the viewer that could brighten their day and give them motivation to get through whatever their day might throw at them.
Artist Statement: I wanted my public sculpture to interact with the community and the students on the Lander campus. My idea was to build something with Legos and I decided to do a bench because people can sit on it. Maybe read a book on it or just have a great time on it. My hope for this project is to make people on Lander’s campus be drawn to it.
Artist Statement: The Materials used in this project was spray paint, steel rods steel sheet metal some house paint. When I first started this project I had on done small sculptures this cow is anything but that it is 7'3 inches tall and about 4' wide and 6' long when I first started this project I had only done the body for the first critique so then I really needed to work a ton on it to be able to meet the deadline that was given to me. Even while still trying to balance having practice for cheer. It took a ton of work to get the cow to be where it is now. The cow is mostly steel rods that are bent to somewhat resemble an actual cow but still looks somewhat cartoonish and be a little bit more rectangular than an actual cow while being in a walking position and able to support itself and not have issues with the balance like it was most of the time that the legs were on the cow.
Artist Statement: This project was created in ART 302: Sculpture II for the Public Sculpture Project. The artist chose to explore and experiment with new materials. Beginning with a welded steel armature, the image of the banana was rendered using an outdoor version of paper maché. Paint was used to create a recognizable surface. The sculpture is intended to be a light-hearted addition to the campus.
2025 Sculpture Deathmatch Entry: The Sculpture Deathmatch is an annual event that pits teams of sculptors against one another in a battle to design, create and install public sculptures on campus in a 12 hour period. This entry was created by Georgia Ricard, Mackenzie Belenky, Eddie Herron, Victoria Kelly, and Sanaa Skeete.
Artist Statement: For this sculpture I grinded metal for the first time and also welded sheet metal for the first time. I used line to portray the objects and create movement throughout the piece. The concept of this piece is that the doodle has come to life and is jumping off the paper. It does have a deeper meaning of taking what you have and making something more of it.
Artist Statement: My sculpture, Super DS Lite, brings the charm of Super Mario Bros into a large-scale line sculpture. I chose steel wire because it gives the piece a sketch-like, animated feel while staying durable for outdoor display. The design includes Mario popping out of the screen, a signature Mario star, and a classic wire mushroom. The large pipe behind the sculpture represents the warp pipe from the game and serves as the main support. I hope the sculpture makes people smile, pause for a moment, and remember the joy and creativity Mario games brought to their childhood.
Artist Statement: I wanted to create something that was functional in the beginning, so I started with the old game monkeys in a barrel, then I branched out from the idea of them being in a barrel and thought about what it would look like if they were giant, and what they might hang from and came up with the idea of them hanging from a street sign. In the end I decided not to make them functional, but I would like to come back to the idea in the future.
Artist Statement: I’ve always thought flamingos were flightless birds, but that’s because I’ve only ever seen them in a zoo. My flamingo sculpture is flightless, but she wants to fly. The steel used to create her is very heavy and visually and physically holds her down. The material is also strong and sturdy. The process of creating the flamingo is very repetitive, a comfortable pattern/process. She is stuck in a repetitive some might say “comfortable” life that is all that she knows, but she wants to fly from it.
Artist Statement: The fawn and the fox began as a projection of myself onto a close friend of mine, or as a depiction of how I perceived our relationship. I’m the fox, she’s the fawn, and we’re both learning how to play together. I’d think of my friend like a younger version of myself, someone who I want to guide and care for. She feels she’s all alone; the world around her–as well as her home–is violent, so there’s rarely a reason, in her mind, to try and reach out. I see that small part of myself in her, if not exactly, and I know it is still in me, too. This piece is a translation of both my relationship with my friend and the relationship between the two parts of myself. The fox is my confident and reckless self, while the fawn is closed off and thoughtful. I want to see and understand both of them so that I can nurture them, not continue to push them down.
Artist Statement: Artist Megan Vickery is a Lander Visual Art Alumni and a local photographer. During her senior year, Megan explored several sculptural processes and experimented with many materials. She created this sculpture when she learned the process of hollow formed steel, a painstakingly slow and tedious process that renders smooth, spectacular forms. This abstract sculpture was designed to communicate ideas about the connections between design and sculpture and encourages viewers to move around the forms. This is the oldest sculpture on campus.
Artist Statement: Artist Megan Vickery is a Lander Visual Art Alumni and a local photographer. During her senior year, Megan explored several sculptural processes and learned more about using public sculpture to engage viewers. She created this interactive sculpture as puzzle pieces that fit together visually as you move around the sculpture.