St. Olaf’s campus is known for its beauty, and its hallways are no exception. All of the buildings feature some kind of art — whether it be a painting, photograph, student-made drawing, or sculpture, St. Olaf’s walls are never bare. Students can view artwork on campus as they hustle to class, study, or eat in the caf.
Holland Hall has lots of interesting artwork displayed, especially photographs. One photograph, by Janne Kristine Dale ’08, was taken during Global Semester. It is titled “Glossy Consumption” and features a mall in Hong Kong. The escalators are the focus of the piece, with their reflective surfaces creating a multi-layered visual effect. The busy photograph, cut and pasted in a few areas, makes the viewer feel the bustle and liveliness of the place.
Also in Holland is a large bright acrylic painting titled “Gasoline” by Michon Weeks, who has been an art and art history faculty member at St. Olaf College since 2012. The painting, made in 2016, stands out with its vibrant colors and busy nature. The background creates a tunnel effect surrounding the central black-and-white gasoline drawing, but there is more to the background than first meets the eye. Within it are words and phrases, creating a poem-like piece viewers can read.
Students can also notice artwork in the hallway as they walk from the Cage to the library. In the corner of the Buntrock Commons hallway stands a sculpture titled “Inspiration is Timeless” by Rollie A. Grandbois. Grandbois was an Indigenous artist known for his culturally significant pieces which combined traditional and contemporary elements. The sculpture was created in 2005 using petrified coral from Texas.
Rounding the corner, a large piece stands out with its size and intricacy. Titled “Ulu Cami — Divrigi, Turkey,” it was created by Mary Griep in 2007 using mixed media on paper. The piece immediately draws attention with its use of many frames and its asymmetrical non-rectangular shape. The ornate detail and many designs within it could keep a viewer entertained for hours. Griep is the former Associate Dean for Fine Arts and a former Professor of Art Emerita at St. Olaf College. She is known for her Anastylosis Project, which is a series composed of drawings of sacred sites from around the world that began in 1998.
Through Buntrock Commons, we reach the library, which also features a variety of artwork. One piece on the third floor is by Henri Jules Guinier, who was a prominent figure in the French art scene during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The piece “Nuit Douce (Girl from Sea Isles)” was created in 1899 from lithography on paper. It depicts a monochromatic drawing of a girl with a simplistic natural background. Guinier excelled in portraiture, capturing the essence and personality of his subjects. He is just one of the many different kinds of artists whose work you will find featured around St. Olaf College.
