Untitled (An Ocean Scene)

Maynard Tischler, Untitled (An Ocean Scene), 1999, ceramic tiles

Inside the Daniel L. Ritchie Center for Health and Wellness, the El Pomar Natatorium houses Ocean Mosaic Scene, a monumental tile mural designed by Maynard Tischler (b.1932), Professor of ceramics Emeritus, and installed by him and his collaborator Ken McDonald in 1999. There are works on campus that portray athletes directly, but Tischler has chosen instead to reflect the swimmer’s experience through a flowing, dynamic representation of water. Tischler cleverly captures the fluidity of wind and wave in high-fired ceramic—perhaps the most durable and fixed of all artistic media.

Location: El Pomar Natatorium, Ritchie Center

A more traditional approach to the celebration of athletics, two monumental athlete figures by faculty artist Robert Garrison(1895-1945) once guarded the gates to DU’s Hilltop Stadium, demolished in 1971. Created in 1926, the figures predated Garrison’s most prominent commission, in New York City. His “Morning, Present, Evening”—the first architectural relief for New York’s Rockefeller Center –was installed in 1932.

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