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Tribal Hunting Student Files |
Dr. Mooney:
Where is the Art on campus?
Is there any? It may come as a surprise to the law school community, but we do have some artistic productions on this campus. Of course, we have the wondrous natural art right outside our windows called Tryon Creek State Park. But what about the inside of our community?
We have a rock sculpture with a carving of the scales of justice in Gantenbein. The wall along the staircase by Norm's bookstore has a large, creative textile design. There is a metallic sculpture in the student lounge near the cafeteria. And now, thanks to some creative endeavors by one of our professors, we have a couple of paintings in the cafeteria.
Have you ever noticed art on this campus? For several years, students have talked about jazzing things up—usually in February when the lack of sunlight makes everyone nuts. But so far nothing has come of all this talk. It may surprise you that one piece of art was actually removed from the law school campus.
In the 1980s, a law school alum donated an oil painting of Mount Hood to the law school. The law school even had someone fly to Alaska to retrieve the painting. Because Mount Hood isn't visible from many places in Portland, including our campus, it was our own special view.
So you may be asking: where is this great piece of artwork? Until last year it hung on the wall along the staircase by the information desk. The ideal viewing location was from Adele's desk. Over the years, Adele has talked fondly of the painting; she describes how its character changes when the light fades out at the end of the day.
Now the painting resides in the Manor House on upper campus, along with several other paintings of Mount Hood and some rather striking views of the real Mount Hood—right out the windows. We aren't entirely sure how the picture got there. It has been said that you requested that it be moved to the Manor House, and that we can go look at it any time we want. This could all be another barrel of rumors—only you and Dean Huffman can actually say why the painting was removed from our law school campus.
We would like to see the painting—as our only window to Mount Hood—returned to our campus for Adele, the law school, and visitors to view. It would be great if, before we graduate, when the sky is still gray and the rain is coming down, we could take a break and look at Mount Hood without putting on our rain gear and trekking up to the upper campus. We don't understand what another picture of Mount Hood gives the Manor House. But we do understand what it gives our campus. When can we expect it back?
Alix Gnoske and Coby Dolan