Art department work dedicated at Chancellor Park

By Krystal McGee |Staff Writer|

Students, staff, faculty and the San Bernardino community came together to dedicate 10 beautiful ironwork art pieces to Chancellors Park at the intersection of Kendall and Campus Parkway.

The artwork sculpted by students and staff of CSUSB’s Art Department represents several animals from the San Bernardino region.

“Fauna Inlandia” title of the artwork in Chancellor’s Park features 10 metal sculptures of birds, deer, a rabbit and a black bear interacting with their environment.

Richard Johnston, a professor of art at CSUSB, created two large deer, while Katherine Gray, a CSUSB assistant professor of art, sculpted four red-tailed hawks and two small deer.

CSUSB students Matt Hillseth, Pat Farrell, Fernando Lugo sculpted a baby black bear, the rabbit and a hummingbird.

The project also includes a ceramic tile mural which is located along campus parkway.

The ceramic mural, “Desert Life Water,” was created by Cal State San Bernardino assistant professor Alison Petty Ragguette.

The 256 square feet of stoneware clay tiles are handmade and set into a column that rises 16 feet high with each side at four feet wide.

The mural in all its beauty has details where each side connects visually to the next. One panel depicting turbulent water flows, another a coyote drinking moon tears, the next a river flowing from the sun as it spawns hummingbirds, with the largest of them feeding on a giant raindrop above a garden in a fourth panel.

Developer James Watson and his wife, Judy Rodriquez Watson, longtime supporters of the art department, backed the project up financially.

“The faculty and students are doing fantastic work and public art is having a real impact on our community,” said Sant Khalsa, Chair of the CSUSB Art Department.

Fifth Ward Councilman Chas Kelley said, “ The installation which features artwork resembling area wildlife is a way to “lay out the welcome mat” to new residents,”

The ironwork art gives students, staff and people in the community an incentive to walk the park.

Watson, in joining a chorus of support for CSUSB and its art department said, “the school is the city’s jewel.”

The artwork in the park is a simple reminder of the loyalty and dedication students and staff from the art department have for the CSUSB.