Silver anniversary brings together museum founder, a ‘Happy Mother,’ gallery dedication
By Julie Rausch
To help celebrate the Ulrich Museum’s silver anniversary, its founder Martin Bush will visit WSU May 8-9.
At 7 p.m. Monday, May 8, Bush will give a presentation, "The Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, 25 Years Later - Stories, Recollections and Memories," in 107 Devlin Hall.
At 3:30 p.m. May 9, Bush will be on hand for the rededication of "Happy Mother" (1958) by Chaim Gross (1904-91), followed by a reception in the Joan S. Beren Gallery, which will now be used exclusively to exhibit works in the university’s permanent collection.
The 8-foot bronze, depicting a woman playfully tossing three children on her feet and hands, will rejoin the Martin H. Bush Outdoor Sculpture Collection in its new location north of the Ulrich Museum.
"Happy Mother," installed in 1972 and the first sculpture in WSU’s outdoor sculpture collection, has been stored for several months to protect it from flying debris during construction at McKinley Hall. It had been located southeast of the building.
As WSU’s vice president of academic resources and the Ulrich Museum’s director during the ’70s and ’80s, Bush was adroit at encouraging people to contribute their resources to benefit the university. It was under his watch that McKnight Art Center, which houses the Ulrich Museum, was built.
A dazzling, enduring result of Bush’s talent is the Ulrich Museum and the outdoor sculpture collection, which flourished while Bush was responsible for much of the acquisitions.
The sculpture collection, now worth millions, comprises more than 60 sculptures. WSU is one of a handful of universities in the nation with such a valuable and prestigious outdoor sculpture collection, said George Platt, associate professor emeritus and former university planner.
Students played a role in building the collection. The Student Government Association for many years gave a portion of student fees toward the sculptures, as acknowledged by the plaques bearing the names of SGA presidents near several sculptures, said James Rhatigan, senior vice president who served as dean of students during Bush’s tenure.
The collection’s centerpiece is "Personnages Oiseaux" (1977), a 28 by 52 foot brilliant, shimmering Venetian glass and marble mosaic mural by Spanish artist Joan Miró (1893-1983), which graces the south facade of McKnight Art Center. What helped convince the famous artist to create such a work for WSU was his discovery that the student body – primarily working students – helped build the outdoor sculpture collection, Rhatigan said. Miró accepted no commission for his work.
The museum was named in honor of Edwin Ulrich, a Hyde Park, N.Y., businessman. Through Ulrich’s longstanding friendship with Bush, he contributed a collection of more than 300 paintings by the American marine artist Frederick Judd Waugh (1861-1940) and his father, a Philadelphia portrait painter, Samuel Bell Waugh (1814-1885).
By the time the museum opened Dec. 7, 1974, the university already had 1,700 acquisitions.
The museum, which has more than 7,500 pieces in its collection, underwent a $1.5 million renovation
1994-96.
