Two Governors State University students were wandering around campus late last summer when they found a hidden gem in an overgrown, forgotten part of campus.
But that wasn’t their first impression of the hulking bronze sculpture.
At first, Nathan Couwenhoven, now 19, was a little taken aback, calling it “almost menacing.”
“We didn’t expect to find it back there,” he said. “It jumps out from nowhere.”
But his companion, Marie Schelfo, 19, soon became enamored with the piece called Lanleff-Demure No. 4.
They like the sculpture enough that they are spearheading a drive to relocate the work to a more trafficked part of campus and restore some of its lost lustre.
Schelfo had joined Couwenhoven on the stroll last August because they were both freshmen from Crown Point, Ind., who were new to the area and they wanted to explore the campus. They walked around the university’s Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park, which features 29 large sculptures on 100 acres of prairie landscape.
Schelfo and Couwenhoven were following the park’s path and noticed a flash of color behind long grass and brush.
Schelfo, who is majoring in forensic psychology, said she thought the bronze sculpture was “really cool” because it seems to change as one views it from different angles while walking around it.
But the piece was nearly hidden from public view, and it had clear signs of weather damage, she said.
The state of the sculpture reminded Schelfo of an experience in high school, when she worked hard to create an art piece and someone later accidentally destroyed it.
She felt a camaraderie with the artist who created Lanleff-Demure No. 4, and felt certain that artist would not want it to be hidden and in need of restoration.
Couwenhoven, who is majoring in art and business, said he was raised to appreciate creative expression as his mother is an artist.
Schelfo and Couwenhoven approached the sculpture park’s curator, Jeff Stevenson, to ask what they could do to give the piece the appreciation it deserves.
The piece wasn’t always stowed away in a forgotten part of campus. It once held a prominent place outside the university’s former conference center, which is now unused.
The Lanleff-Demure No. 4 was donated to the university by the Art Institute of Chicago in 2003. It was created by Henri Etienne-Martin in France in 1961 and is the oldest piece in the university’s collection.
Stevenson said the artist created the piece as a response to his experiences during World War II. He said the piece represents safety in a home, and close observation can reveal representations of stair steps and even people in the piece.
But as its current home became a remote and little-visited area of the campus in University Park, the sculpture fell into a state of disrepair. Brush grew up around it, and it became covered by dirt and grime. Moisture began seeping into its nooks.
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Stevenson, who’s been on the job for about a year, said the relocation and restoration of the sculpture is on the list of needed projects, but it isn’t a top priority.
But Schelfo and Couwenhoven have made it one.
Stevenson told the students they would need to raise about $25,000 to move the one-ton sculpture to a more visible space, as well as to clean and restore it.
With the help of GSU film student Peter Cummings, they created a YouTube video and a GoFundMe campaign on April 17 with the hope of raising the money.
As of Thursday, they’ve raised $900.
Schelfo and Couwenhoven said they hope to raise all the money this spring or summer and see the project completed by the time they start their second year at GSU.
Frank Vaisvilas is a freelancer for the Daily Southtown.