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>> Narrator: EACH SUMMER, THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA IS AN ACTIVE
PLACE, AS BUILDING AND RENOVATION CONTINUALLY
TRANSFORMS OUR CAMPUS. GIVEN THAT IOWA IS A PUBLIC
INSTITUTION, HOW DO THESE FACILITIES BENEFIT NOT JUST U.I.
FACULTY AND STUDENTS, BUT ALL THE PEOPLE OF IOWA?
ONE WAY IS THROUGH A UNIQUE STATE PROGRAM THAT MAKES ART AN
INTEGRAL PART OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT.
ON THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA RESEARCH CAMPUS, AN ORIGINAL
WORK BY SEATTLE-BASED ARTIST NORIE SATO GRACES THE NEW
FACILITY OF THE STATE HYGIENIC LABORATORY.
>> MOST OF THE WORK THAT I DO IS VERY CONTEXTUAL.
SO, IT'S MADE TO FIT THE PARTICULAR SITE AND THE FACILITY
THAT I WORK IN. I'M ALWAYS INTERESTED IN HOW
PEOPLE WILL ACTUALLY ENGAGE WITH IT BECAUSE I THINK WHAT I'M
INTERESTED IN IS THAT THERE ISN'T A SINGLE INTERPRETATION OF
IT, THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF DIFFERENT WAYS THAT YOU CAN KIND
OF LOOK AT IT AND READ IT. A LOT OF SCIENCE IS ACTUALLY
ABOUT INTERPRETATION, AND THE SCIENTISTS ARE ALWAYS
INTERPRETING DATA IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT WAYS.
SO, IN A WAY, I THINK ART HAS THE SAME INTERPRETIVE ASPECT TO
IT. I THINK THERE'S A GOOD
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ART AND SCIENCE IN THAT WAY.
>> WHAT YOU CAN SEE THERE IS IT'S PETRI DISHES, IT'S
EVOCATIVE OF TEST TUBES, THERE ARE IMAGES OF BACTERIA.
THE ART REFLECTS THE WORK THAT'S BEING DONE IN THE BUILDING, AND
YET IT ADDS. IT GIVES SOMETHING BACK.
IT GIVES SOMETHING MORE, A SORT OF SENSE OF THE SPIRIT OF THE
WORK, NOT JUST FOR THOSE WORKING IN THE BUILDING, BUT ALSO FOR
ANYBODY WHO PASSES THROUGH. >> Narrator: ANOTHER ART PROJECT
THAT REFLECTS THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT CAN BE FOUND NEAR
THE BANKS OF THE IOWA RIVER. "CALM WATERS" IS A 40-FOOT GLASS
MOSAIC BY DES MOINES ARTISTS REBECCA EKSTRAND AND
TOM ROSBOROUGH. >> WE WANTED TO SORT OF REVEAL
THE BEAUTY OF THIS SPORT, THE BEAUTY OF THE RIVER IN THE
NATURAL WORLD, AND THEN TO DEFINITELY HONOR THE DEDICATION
OF THE ATHLETE. >> AND INSPIRE.
>> AND THEN ALSO TO INSPIRE THE YOUNG WOMEN THAT ARE GOING TO BE
HERE EVERY DAY, DAY IN, DAY OUT, VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING,
PRACTICING -- SOMETHING TO INSPIRE THEM AS THEY'RE WORKING
SO HARD. SO, THAT'S WHAT WE KIND OF KEPT
IN MIND, AS WE WERE DESIGNING. >> AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE
DESIGN OF THE BACKGROUND, THERE'S A LOT OF MOVEMENT GOING
ON. YOU CAN SEE THE WAVES, YOU CAN
SEE THE UNDULATING COLORS THAT ARE GOING ON THERE.
THERE'S A LOT OF TURBULENCE IN THE MIDDLE PART.
AND SO, WITH ALL THAT MOVEMENT GOING ON, YOU CAN SEE THAT THE
BOAT IS COMING INTO THE DESIGN, AND THE POWER AND THE CALMNESS
OF THAT BOAT SLICING INTO THAT. >> I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING
THAT WOULD GIVE MORE HOURS OF PLEASURE TO SOMEONE WHO'S
ENGAGED IN THE PROCESS OF ROWING THAN TO BE ABLE TO GLANCE
UP AND SEE THE VARIETIES OF EDDIES AND SWIRLS AND ROTATION
THAT'S CREATED IN THAT PARTICULAR MOSAIC.
IT'S PERFECT FOR "ART IN PLACE." >> Narrator: CONTINUING THE IDEA
OF "ART IN PLACE" IS PERHAPS THE MOST VISIBLE OF IOWA'S RECENT
CAMPUS ART PROJECTS. "RIVER OF LIFE" IS A 50-FOOT
MOSAIC PAVEMENT ACCOMPANIED BY A 14-FOOT ENTRYWAY MEDALLION.
BOTH WORKS WERE CREATED BY LONDON-BASED ARTIST
GARY DROSTLE. >> ON THE FIRST LEVEL IS JUST
KIND OF A DEPICTION OF IOWA CITY, WITH THE RIVER
RUNNING THROUGH IT AND THIS IDEA THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD THESE
FLOODS AND, YOU KNOW, OCCASIONALLY THE RIVER BURSTS
OUT OF ITS BOUNDARY, AND THAT KIND OF IDEA.
BUT ALSO, THE "RIVER OF LIFE" -- I KIND OF SEE IT AS THE TOP END,
WHERE WE'VE GOT A SPIRAL THAT KIND OF REPRESENTS THE SOURCE OF
THE RIVER, OR BIRTH, AND THEN ALL THE LINES OF TILE RUNNING
THROUGH THE RIVER I SEE AS INDIVIDUAL LIFE, LIKE LIFELINES.
SO, THOSE LIFELINES THAT RUN, STAY WITHIN THAT GOLDEN AREA,
ARE, IF YOU LIKE, A HEALTHY OR BALANCED LIFE.
WHEN THEY GO INTO THE GRAY AREAS, THEN THAT'S SORT OF LIFE
BEING A BIT OUT OF BALANCE. AND THEN WHEN IT BURSTS OUT ONTO
THE SURROUNDING PAVEMENT, THAT'S LIFE'S HURDLES THAT PEOPLE FACE
OR THINGS GOING A BIT WRONG. THE SECOND MOSAIC -- THE THEME
FOR THAT IS MOVEMENT AND VITALITY.
AND THAT'S A FIGURATIVE MOSAIC THAT DEPICTS FIGURES MOVING
AROUND IN THIS KIND OF VORTEX OF ENERGY AND DYNAMIC SORT OF
MOVEMENT. THE FIGURES ARE BASED ON THE
ACTIVITIES THAT GO ON IN THE CENTER.
SO, THERE'S A DANCER, A DIVER, CLIMBER.
>> THIS IS A PROJECT THAT WORKS ON EVERY LEVEL.
IT SHOWS YOU, WITH THE MEDALLION, THAT THIS IS A PLACE
FOR RECREATION AND EXERCISE. BUT ONCE YOU PASS THE
ENTRANCEWAY, WHAT YOU SEE THERE IS YOU SEE A MOSAIC THAT HAS
BEEN CREATED IN SUCH A WAY THAT PEOPLE CAN TRACE DIFFERENT
RIVULETS OF THEIR LIVES AS THEY UNITE WITH OTHERS IN A COMMON
STREAM, AS THEY RUN OUTSIDE THE BANKS OF THE RIVER COURSE.
BUT THE THING THAT'S EXTRAORDINARY ABOUT IT IS THAT
THIS ART WOULDN'T BE AS SIGNIFICANT IF IT WERE IN ANY
OTHER PLACE THAN HERE IN IOWA CITY.
THIS IS A PIECE OF ART THAT WAS CREATED FOR THIS PLACE.
>> Narrator: AS THE NEEDS OF THE UNIVERSITY CONTINUE TO EVOLVE,
SO WILL THE PHYSICAL CAMPUS, BRINGING NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO
INTEGRATE ART INTO THE U.I. EXPERIENCE.
>> I'M VERY PROUD OF WHAT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA HAS DONE WITH
THESE THREE PIECES OF ART. THE PROJECT HAS ALLOWED THE
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA TO GIVE THREE REAL TREASURES TO THE STATE OF
IOWA, AND WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN THAT?