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UM-Dearborn Art Curator and Gallery Manager Laura Cotton wants the community to know what they can see at UM-Dearborn just by taking a walk. The university’s 15 outdoor art pieces have fascinating artists and histories. Artists behind these works are or were major players in the Detroit art scene, and they have displayed work at the Smithsonian Institution, the Detroit Institute of Arts and at the Olympics.

“A big part of our mission at the gallery is to educate people through art, which includes highlighting and promoting Michigan artists. What better way to do that than to have their talent displayed in such a public way?” says Cotton, noting there’s even a work by the legendary Detroit artist Charles McGee. “In addition to seeing the art, we want people on campus to know who was behind these works and what their point of view was when creating them.” 

For the last six years, Cotton and Museum Registrar Autumn Muir have led student interns in an effort to research further information about each piece. “The sculptures weren’t fully cataloged and little information was known. It was a top priority for Autumn and me to shed more light on these highly visible works that we’re proud to have as part of the collection,” Cotton says. “It’s a way to focus on the sculptures while also giving students an engaging experience. Each year, we’ve provided the opportunity for a new student majoring in art history or museum studies to work as a gallery intern. These interns have dug up elusive information, talked with artists directly, organized and fact checked the information, and compiled the text for future plaques. I'm very impressed with the depth of work they have done.” After graduating, these interns — Nicole Gonzales, Brooke Palomba, Morgan Pigott and McKenna Russell — have gone on to museum studies graduate programs and positions at places like the Cranbrook Art Museum and the Automotive Hall of Fame.

Art history major and Sturgis native Julianna Collins — the latest of the interns working on the project — came to UM-Dearborn because she heard about opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience at the Stamelos Galley Center while on a campus tour. “I’m so glad that I chose UM-Dearborn and got this internship. My goal is to become a conservator and I was able to do the behind-the-scenes gallery work as a student,” she says. “I love it as much as I hoped I would.”

Passing by a circle of tall wooden pieces outside of the Mardigian Library, Collins once thought the wood and iron sculpture represented arrows in the ground. But when learning about artist Robert Piepenburg — whose works have been featured in the Smithsonian — Collins realized “The Dancers” is meant to represent human spirit and movement. The subjects’ “choreography” changes based on where the viewer stands. The 1974 art work was donated by William and Electra Stamelos, the gallery’s namesakes. “I now know what the artist was thinking when he created it,” Collins says. “I have to admit that I still see arrows, but I know now what it represents and that adds to my experience. The sculptures across campus are abstract so everyone can have their own experience with them and see something different. It’s part of their beauty and purpose.”

During her time as an intern, Collins participated in the gallery and conservation teams’ assessment of the condition of the sculptures to determine what will need to be done to shore up and preserve the pieces. She also helped develop a presentation about the sculpture collection that is being utilized by the UM-Dearborn Facilities Operations team to assist with future landscaping plans. The information will also help guide the next intern, who starts this fall and will help finalize informational plaques for the artworks and brainstorm ideas for a self-guided audio tour.

“If we don’t provide further information with the sculptures, people are less likely to learn from them and appreciate what we’re so lucky to have here,” Cotton says. “ÿ�մ��� 10 years ago, an older man in a wheelchair came to the library. The person he was with very casually asked me where the Charles McGee sculpture was, and I pointed out the location. I realized later that the elderly man was Charles himself and he had been too humble to share his name. He had stopped by just to visit his sculpture. I consider his piece to be a significant highlight of our collection.” Cotton adds that McGee’s 1984 brushed aluminum sculpture — which was on display outside of the Administration Building — is currently with a conservator. McGee passed away in 2021.

The McGee sculpture “Amalgum,” referencing a word that can mean a mixture or alloy, but also a mixture of diverse things, came to campus about 20 years ago — along with the other outdoor sculptures. UM-Dearborn Curator Emeritus Joe Marks and retired Museum Director Ken Gross reached out to local artists at that time in an effort to encourage them to share and display their work on campus grounds.

Cotton, who started at UM-Dearborn in 2015, recognizes and appreciates the hard work of former gallery staff. To support their work, Cotton has made it a priority to obtain funding for the proper maintenance and preservation of the outdoor sculpture collection. “They had a wonderful vision and realized it. But now we are working on that next step — how do we preserve what we have?” she says. For the conservation work on the pieces, which is especially necessary when art is exposed to weather elements, Cotton has secured $62,000 in Kresge Foundation grants. Four sculptures have been professionally restored and three others are in the restoration process. Want to donate to support sculpture upkeep? Visit the . 

In addition to the necessary conservation work, some of the sculptures were sinking or leaning because they were on temporary bases for 20-plus years. “We’re working on providing them with new, safer and more aesthetic bases. Little by little, we are getting there,” Cotton says. “We know that these works are gems on campus.” One recently restored sculpture is artist Linda Howard’s “Turnabout,” which is between Chancellor’s Pond and the Tony England Engineering Lab Building. Around the same time Howard created that piece, she was working on one commissioned by the Public Arts Program for the 1980 Winter Olympics.

This gallery team’s work coincides with the multiyear Comprehensive Campus Plan, which includes moving some of the sculptures so they can be better featured in the campus landscape, notably along the Wolverine Walk and at the central entrance campus gateway. The Wolverine Walk will be the main pedestrian thoroughfare through the heart of campus. Landscape changes, starting with the university’s central entrance, could begin as early as next year.

Collins, who graduated in April and stayed on as an intern through the summer, says the university’s sculptures not only visually impressed her, they also gave her experience needed for her resume while seeking out the next step in her career. She’s glad to have taken part in a project that will be a part of the university for many years to come. 

“Public art is important because it catches your attention while you go about your day. And, for a moment, it can take you out of whatever you are stressing about and get you to notice the world around you. That’s what they do for me, anyway,” Collins says. “We have some unique and beautiful works here and I’m happy that I got to interact with them in a way where I could help preserve their story.” 

Article by Sarah Tuxbury