SCULPTING THE LANDSCAPE

Metal sculptures, many abstract in nature, decorate the grounds around Southeast Missouri State University's Art Building.

To some observers, the sculptures seem little more than rusty objects that make mowing a chore for the groundskeepers. But to Dr. Edwin L. Smith, the objects in Southeast's sculpture garden are works of art.

An art professor, Smith teaches sculpture classes at Southeast. His students have been creating outdoor sculptures for the Art Building grounds for nearly a decade.

Smith, too, has put his mark on the garden. He created the first metal sculpture for the grounds in 1991 at the request of the art department chairman. The sculpture was created to sit atop an old cement slab behind the building. The slab once supported air conditioning units.

Smith's rusty steel creation features I-beams, old gears and large metal chains he obtained from a machine shop on Good Hope. The creation is titled "Chained and Locked Into Place."

Smith said most of the outdoor sculptures probably will be moved to the River Campus when the university's new arts school opens in a few years. But he expects his sculpture will remain firmly anchored on the concrete slab, a permanent fixture behind the old Art Building.

The approximately 40 sculptures by students, former students and graduate students are an eclectic mix of shapes and forms, most of them abstract.

Metal insects hang out amid the bushes in front of the art building, as does a motorcycle-like sculpture complete with empty gas can.

A flat-shelled turtle stands guard on the lawn. The landscape includes a red-and-black ladybug, made from the round lid of a barbecue grill.

Three painted metal flowers, created from farm equipment, are forever in bloom.

One sculpture resembles a railroad crossing, with the words "paths" and "crossing" marked on the "X" shaped sign. At one time, it featured a green light and a red light, too. But the lights were stolen around Christmas last year, Smith said.

The garden also features a stone sculpture by retired Cape Girardeau physician Jean Allen Chapman. The sculpture, titled "Elizabeth," is a female figure carved out of dolomite limestone. It is a tribute to a late patient of Chapman's.

A number of vertical, abstract metal sculptures are designed to cast shadows on the sidewalks. Smith said the shadows created by the sculptures are part of the design.

Most of the sculptures sit atop the ground. Smith has asked the university to provide cement bases for them. "I have turned in six designs for this," he said. "It has gotten absolutely nowhere."

Without a solid base, some of the sculptures have fallen over on the grass.

Graduate student Robert Friedrich of Jackson wishes the university would do some landscaping to enhance the sculpture garden.

"I would like to see more done with it," said Friedrich, who teaches art at Cape Girardeau Central High School.

Several years ago, Friedrich created "The Whip," a curved, abstract metal piece that stands in the sculpture garden.

He loves sculpture's three-dimensional form. It gives a different appearance, depending on the angle from which it is being viewed, he said.

The artistic landscape in the sculpture garden changes from time to time. Students are free to reclaim their sculptures. Some do. Others leave their sculptures behind, making them permanent fixtures at the Art Building.

Many of the sculptures are visible to passing motorists on Henderson. Smith welcomes such visibility for an art form that he says is often overlooked even in art departments.

Smith admits it is hard to sell even the campus community on modern sculpture. But he believes the university has a role in educating the public about sculpture as art.

Sculpture sends a message to passersby. "It is a good way to let them know that we do have an art department here," he said.