LehighNow Volume 03, Issue 06

              LEHIGHNOW
November 13,2002
Volume 3, Issue 6
Campus is star
of public art
course
IN BRIEF
ON CAMPUS
University
hosts global
workshop
Professors from 10
countries will meet at
Lehigh Nov. 17-18 to
discuss curricula aimed
at improving the
competencies of the
global industrial
workforce.
The impetus for the
initiative is the effects on
global industry of e-
business, information
technology, the interactions of different
cultures, and new
manufacturing technologies.
These rapid changes
caused Intelligent
Manufacturing Systems
(IMS), an international
organization, to create a
Global Education for
Manufacturing (GEM)
project for curriculum
development.
After meeting in
Amsterdam in April, IMS
decided to hold a
workshop with industry
at Lehigh.
Keith Gardiner,
director of the Center for
Manufacturing Systems
Engineering, is the U.S.
coordinator for this
project. Representatives
from companies, research
centers and universities in
Estonia, Germany,
Ireland, Japan, Latvia,
Portugal, Norway, Korea,
Australia and the U.S.
will attend the workshop.
It's not often
that the
classroom and
the topic are
one and the
same. But
students -
joined by
visiting artists,
curators,
critics,
planners, and
experts in
installation and
construction -
will examine
and learn from
the Lehigh campus as part
of the new "Public Art,
Public Decisions" course.
Taught by Ricardo
Viera, professor of art and
architecture and director of
the Lehigh University Art
Galleries, the course
examines the creative,
technical and financial
factors that are considered
in the decision-making
process of creating public
art.
"We are studying the
grounds of the university,
looking at the placement of
existing sculpture on
campus, and considering
ways we can build upon
the existing Philip and
Muriel Berman Sculpture
Garden," Viera says. "Our
goal is to achieve a better
understanding of the
public and social context
in which public art exists,
and to promote awareness
of the campus as a
potential site or center for
public art."
Lehigh's efforts in
creating a sculpture
garden began in the 1980s,
Viera says, and "many
museums would envy
what we have here in our
"Three Discs," a sculpture by Menashe
Kadishman, graces the Mountaintop campus.
backyard."
"It's been said that the
Bermans have been to
sculpture in Pennsylvania
what Marco Polo was to the
New World, and it's true.
They put it on the map,"
Viera says.
Nancy Berman, a member
of Lehigh's Board of Trustees
and daughter of the philanthropist couple, recalls, "My
father loved monumental
outdoor sculpture, and -
just as much - loved the
artists themselves and their
creative process. Lehigh, with
its grand and varied
landscapes and its adventuresome and open leadership, seemed a natural place
to site art.
"Dad also appreciated
people's responses to
sculpture encountered in the
environment and habit of
everyday living," Berman
added.
Lehigh's sloping campus,
with its wide grassy
expanses and canopy of
mature trees, provides a
varied backdrop for the
nearly 70 pieces of outdoor
works - some colossal - that
dot the grounds of the 1,600
Please see ART, Page 3
Safety issues
lead to strict
parking
enforcement
Vehicles parked illegally on
the hill may be towed, and
their owners will face stiff
fines under a new safety
initiative designed to keep
roads and driveways clear so
that Bethlehem Fire Department trucks can safely
respond to emergencies.
Most of the 110 new signs
clearly designating areas as
"No Parking Fire Lane Tow
Away Zone" have been
installed, and curbs in the no-
parking zones have been
painted yellow. During the
first two weeks of the
initiative, vehicles illegally
parked in the fire zones have
been given an informational
flyer warning that future
violations will result in a $35
fine and possible towing. The
grace period ends Nov. 14,
and after that, fines and
towing will be strictly
enforced, says Barry Gaal,
associate vice president of
business services.
"We have to make sure we
can get emergency equipment
through when it needs to get
through," Police Chief
Edward K. Shupp says.
"These changes will result in
a safer environment for our
students, faculty, staff and
visitors."
To help students, alumni
and friends who will no
longer be able to park on the
hill, the university is offering
a free shuttle bus service that
runs Friday and Saturday
nights from the Brodhead/
Packer Avenue parking lot
up through the hill and back.
The new service started
Nov. 8, and will run in
Please see PARKING, Page 3