Question:

What is the significance of the monument located outside of Dirac Library?

Our answer:

Great question!

The pendulum-like steel sculpture outside of the Paul A. M. Dirac Science Library was commissioned as a part of Florida’s Art in State Buildings program, and was built for a cost of $26,505. This striking sculpture was designed by Florida sculptor Paul Fullerton (1945 - 2018)* and constructed in 1988-1989 to accompany the opening of the library. Many other works on campus were also commissioned or acquired though this program, which since 1979 has brought more than 1,500 works of art to Florida buildings.

Fullerton was born in Minnesota and raised in Fort Myers, FL. He is a graduate of the University of Florida (class of 1967) and the University of Illinois in Fine Arts. Other works of his in Florida include a recently-restores steel sculpture at the University of Florida called By Reef and Trail and a life-size sculpture of Althea Merrick, mother of the founder of Coral Gables.

Most of his large works, which are also great feats of engineering, are located throughout the state of Florida and were sold and placed as part of Florida’s Art in State Buildings program. Nike, Fullerton’s first major sculpture commission, was completed in 1975. Located in Miami’s Biscayne Bay, the sculpture measures fifty feet tall, weighs about one ton, and is mounted on a radial bearing system to turn with the wind. Fullerton spent the last years of his life living and working between Miami and Micanopy, Florida. ​

Sources:

Assorted documents found in FSU Special Collections.

Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts (2008). “Florida’s Art in State Buildings Program.” Retrieved from http://www.mofa.fsu.edu/pages/participate/asb/

Crabbe, N. (2010, August 10). An artist's return. The Gainesville Sun . Retrieved from http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100810/ARTICLES/8101006?p=3&tc=pg&tc=ar

Quintana, A. (2010, August 17). Coral Gables artist's sculpture to be displayed at the University of Florida. The Miami Herald . Retrieved from http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/17/1780521/coral-gables-artists-sculpture.html

https://www.artgeek.io/exhibitions/5d5d5979661605560448a2da/5d5d5979661605560448a2d9