Sculpting a Legacy for Lehigh’s Outdoor Art

First-time visitors strolling down Memorial Drive on Lehigh’s campus do a double take when they see her. What at first appears to be a real woman seated on one of the benches is in fact a sculpture so lifelike that passersby might be tempted to strike up a conversation.

“Woman on Park Bench” by artist George Segal is one of nearly 60 outdoor sculptures on campus — all part of the Lehigh University Art Galleries’ permanent collection. Integrated into the landscape, the sculptures offer opportunities to interact with works of art at any time of day.

The Outdoor Sculpture Collection creates a campus that is uniquely Lehigh, helping it to be named to Research.com’s Top 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America. Maintaining the sculptures — which are exposed to wind, rain, snow, and other elements 365 days a year — is challenging. Costs can top more than $50,000 annually. Previously, with no dedicated budget for upkeep, expenses were covered by money from the College of Arts and Sciences or the university’s facilities department.

That changed in 2023 with the establishment of the LUAG Outdoor Sculpture Maintenance Endowment Fund. Seed money was provided by Jane P. Jamieson ’75 and Frederick H. Jamieson ’74 and by the Philip & Muriel Berman Foundation under the leadership of its director, Nancy Berman ’97H.

Read the full article by Vicki Mayk by following the link in the additional information box.