Swing Low: Harriet Tubman Memorial
This bronze maquette is by Scripps alumna Alison Saar ’78. The piece is a smaller version of the full-sized sculpture commissioned in 2008 for the Harriet Tubman Memorial Plaza in Harlem. The memorial itself is 13 feet high. Roots pull at Tubman’s retreating form, representing the roots of slavery, while the faces of former slaves she led to freedom adorn her skirt. Tubman appears to not only be on train tracks but almost seems to be a train herself: her defiant forward motion and strength recall an unstoppable force. After Tubman escaped slavery, she continued to risk her life by helping other enslaved African Americans reach the relative safety of the North. Saar is known for her sculptures as well as prints and illustrations. As seen with the Tubman Memorial, Saar often deals with themes of race, gender, and culture in her works.
Ritual Object (Aldo Casanova)
This bronze statue by Aldo Casanova was made in 1965. Casanova worked on a number of pieces called Ritual Object, all variations on bronze, and all heavily textured, rectangular shapes. Today, this piece stands amidst the greenery in the courtyard outside the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, protectively looking over its campus.
Untitled (Paul Soldner)
Paul Soldner served as an army medic during World War II. After returning to the US, Soldner pursued a career in the arts, eventually receiving his MFA in ceramics from Otis Art Institute in 1956. From 1959 to 1991 he taught at Scripps College, where he built a nationally known ceramics program and made the Ceramic Annual into the longest-running exhibition of contemporary ceramics in the nation. Inspired by the traditional Japanese technique of firing clay called raku, Soldner developed a new method known as American raku, as well as a low-fire process known as salt-fire bisque. Late in hiscareer, he cast clay sculptural vessels in bronze, as seen in this work next to the ceramic studio.
Grace Scripps Clark Hall
Clark Dorm was first opened in the fall of 1928, as a joint gift of Grace Scripps Clark and Ellen Browning Scripps. The dorm was a joint gift of Grace Scripps Clark and Ellen Browning Scripps in memory of James E. Scripps, father and brother of the donors. Olive Court is a mosaic-paved courtyard accessible at the front of the dorm which bears Scripps’ motto, Incipit Vita Nova, Here Begins New Life, in the corner. The earliest dorms on Scripps—Toll, Clark, and Browning—were designed by Gordan Kaufmann in the Mediterranean style. Kaufmann was particularly instrumental in this style’s revival, whose characteristics include: large, symmetrical façades, stuccoed walls, red tiled roofs, arched or circular windows, and wood or wrought iron balconies.
Eleanor Joy Toll Hall
Opened in 1927, Toll Dorm was the first residence hall at the College. Eleanor Joy Toll was one of the early trustees and a prominent leader of education, music, and civic progress for women in Southern California. One of Toll Dorm’s features is Star Court, an inner courtyard with a star-shaped fountain. The landscaping, designed by Kaufmann, is a transition from public space of the open quad to private space of the dorm. The hedges outside Toll mark the division of public and private space, while the inner courtyard replicates the public gardens of Scripps on a more personal level.
Rose Garden
The Rose Garden, built in 1930, was designed by Edward Huntsman-Trout for students to cut and enjoy fresh flowers. The rose planting beds in the garden were replanted in 2004. The garden retains its original Huntsman-Trout layout, restored with the advice of Clair Martin, a curator of roses at the Huntington Botanical Gardens. Various roses from the original plans were used in the replanting. As well as the roses, a silk floss tree, hibiscus, and a rosemary hedge can be found in the garden.
Graffiti Wall
Graffiti Wall was started as a record of each Scripps graduating class since 1931. Each class chooses an image to be painted by a fellow classmate and the rest of the class signs their names around it. The wall is an important part of Scripps with references to moments in history both at the college and the nation at large. The mural has been cleaned by painting conservator by Aneta Zebala, who also conserved the mural by Alfredo Ramos Martinez in the Margaret Fowler Garden.
Browning Hall
Browning Dorm, opened in 1929, bears the first two names of Ellen Browning Scripps, founder of Scripps College. The central courtyard, Mañana Court, originally had vegetation entirely native to Mexico. Today the courtyard consists of both Mexican and Californian native plants.
Dorsey Hall
Dorsey Dorm was opened in the fall of 1930. The dorm was financed almost entirely by women, and was named after Mrs. Dorsey, the first women superintendent of schools in Los Angeles and one of the first trustees of Scripps College.
Margaret Fowler Memorial Garden
The garden was designed by Gordon Kaufman in 1934. The enclosed, European medieval-style cloister garden accompanies thesmall chapel (oratory) on the northeast side. The garden’s square design with a central water feature also alludes to the Persian paradise garden. The garden is dedicated to the memory of Margaret Fowler, a member of the first board of trustees and local philanthropist, who died in 1931.
Eternal Primitive
Eternal Primitive is a 1965 sculpture by Albert Stewart. He did several sketches for the statue before deciding on its current form. Stewart meant for it to be in contrast with the Virgin and Child sculpture outside the oratory, choosing to use softer, more abstracted forms for Eternal Primitive. As with Virgin and Child, Eternal Primitive often has flowers adorning it. In 1939, Stewart was appointed head of the sculpture program at Scripps College at the invitation of Millard Sheets. He moved to California and remained there for the remainder of his life. This is a later work and one of many by him on campus.
Virgin and Child
This ceramic bas relief sculpture is just outside the entrance to the oratory in Margaret Fowler Garden. It was designed by the Wallis-Wiley Studio of Pasadena. The sculpture is done in the style of Della Robbia, a form of sculpture modeled after the works of Italian sculptor Luca Della Robbia, who lived in the 15th century. Della Robbia made works of terracotta – produced by firing clay in a kiln at high temperatures. While Della Robbia’s works were usually glazed in bright colors and the Virgin and Child is plain terracotta, the style of the figures takes after those made by the Renaissance master. A Scripps tradition is that there is always a fresh flower in the Madonna’s hands, placed by a secret individual.
Stained Glass Window
The stained-glass window in the oratory was donated in 1947 as a gift from Cornelia Dexter Merkel of the class of ’41. The window was designed and made by the Wallis-Wiley Studio of Pasadena.
Flower Vendors
Flower Vendors is a mural in Margaret Fowler Garden by the artist Alfredo Ramos Martinez. Alfredo Ramos Martinez is often celebrated as the father of the Mexican Mural Movement of the 20th century. Martinez began the 100-foot-long mural in 1946, but sadly died the same year, well before its completion. The mural displays the different phases of buon fresco, in which pigments in water are painted on to wet plaster, and fresco secco, in which pigments are painted on to dry plaster. The mural was cleaned by conservators Eduardo Sanchez, Jerry Podany, and Aneta Zebala.
Juncture
Aldo Casanova was a Scripps sculpture professor for more than thirty years, starting in 1966. Casanova drew much of his inspiration from the native plant and animal life of California and the everlasting resilience of nature. His materials reflect this engagement, as Casanova often casts his sculptures in long-lasting materials such as bronze, wood, stone, and clay. Juncture was made in 1966. Its abstract design is typical of Casanova’spieces, though he was also known for his organic animal and nature forms. Juncture is a meld of twisting, interlocking metal forms, providing a stark contrast to the organic plant life behind it. The simple, elegant sculpture has a quiet but powerful presence.
Abraham's Column (Jim Huntington)
This steel and granite piece is by artist Jim Huntington, gifted in 1981 by Janet Anderson and Roger Abrahams (from 1980-1986, Abrahams was a professor of Humanities and Anthropology at Scripps and Pitzer). Huntington was born in Indiana, and worked in California as well as New York. He started working with stone in the mid 1970s, and in 1978 he started using granite, which he has continued to use for most of his pieces. His work can be found in museums in Massachusetts, Texas, Nebraska, New York, and Australia. Abraham’s Column creates an imposing figure, rising like a calcified tree trunk amidst the olive trees.
Man and Nature (Albert Stewart)
Man and Nature is a 1965 bronze sculpture by Albert Stewart. Stewart was a popular artist in Southern California and internationally. His sculptures can be seen decorating the US State Department building in Washington, DC, the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple in LA, the American battle monument in Thiaucourt, France, and the Refugee Memorial in Gouda, Netherlands.
Bound Goat Thursday (Jack Zajac)
Bound Goat Thursday, made in 1962, is a bronze sculpture by the artist Jack Zajac. Zajac was born in 1929 and studied art at Scripps College from 1949 to 1953 with Millard Sheets. Zajac was admitted as a special, non-degree seeking student due to Scripps’ status as a women’s college. In 1954, Zajac received the Rome Prize, allowing him to work and study in Rome. It was during this period that he began sculpting, and developed his theme of sacrificial animals. These included goats and lambs either slumped over stakes or tightly bound. These forms explored themes of rebirth and sacrifice, which would continue to appear in his work throughout the years.
Seal Court
Located next to the Motley coffee shop, the courtyard is a popular place for students to relax and enjoy the California sunshine. The key figures of Seal Court are the two bronze seals at either end of the pond. The seals were originally turquoise green ceramic pieces fired by William Manker, who directed the Ceramics Department at Scripps from 1935–1947. They were recast two more times, with the third and final casting done in bronze during the 1990s. Mosaic panels and depictions of sea life designed by Scripps and Pomona students cover the walls of the pond. The koi fish and turtles are a friendly staple of the pond, and are a common Instagram choice for all guests and members of the College. The courtyard is also the location of Scripps’ tea, a Scripps tradition stretching back to 1927. Every Wednesday, students and faculty gather to take tea and snacks together. The “two cookies only” rule from when tea was originally held in the individual dorms is no longer enforced.
The Doors of Life
These bronze doors were designed in 1939 by Lawrence Tenney Stevens. Stevens was an American sculptor who was known for his allegorical figures and stylized depictions of the American West. Stevens became good friends with Millard Sheets, who helped him obtain a one-man exhibition at Scripps in 1935. One of the works in the exhibit was a ceramic sea lion that was later replicated by Scripps professor William Manker. The replication would go on to become the fountains in Seal Court, after having been recast in bronze by Paul Soldner. It was Millard Sheets who persuaded Stevens to loan the doors to the College. They remained on long term loan until Scripps College Trustee Mrs. G. F. Cruickshank donated them permanently. The intricate doors were conserved in the summer of 2012 by Scripps alumna Gretchen Allen ’14.
Fawn
Fawn is a bronze sculpture on the west side of Malott commons. It was created in 1952 by Albert Stewart. The statue and pool are a memorial to Helen Dagget, class of ’34. The mosaic background of the fountain bears a poem by Ruth George, a Scripps professor of writing. The poem reads: “The little fawn drank lightly sweetly of the water and was gone.”
Shakespeare Reliefs
John Gregory, a well-known American sculptor, used the eight plaster bas-reliefs at Scripps to cast his famous marble reliefs, which now reside on the north façade of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. Each relief depicts a scene from one of Shakespeare’s plays. Made in the 1930s, the plaster pieces have undergone conservation since the spring of 2004. Restored works include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and The Merchant of Venice.
The Flower Sellers, 1937-1939 (Alfredo Ramos Martinez)
The Flower Sellers is a concrete tile mural by the artist Alfredo Ramos Martinez, completed during the years 1937-1939. The piece is made of concrete tiles with oxide polychromy and a glazed terra-cotta border. The mural was conserved by Eduardo Sanchez, who also treated the Ramos Martinez fresco mural in Margaret Fowler Garden.
