If you are looking to find art on Washington State University (WSU), it is in many places, and it is possible to walk around campus and see many outdoor and indoor exhibits all around WSU campus. Every walking tour needs a starting point, and I would recommend parking off-campus, possibly somewhere in Downtown Pullman. From there, you can walk up through Greek Row to you reach some of the oldest buildings like Stevens Hall and Thompson Hall. From here, you can see “Palouse Columns”, a more recent addition to the campus in around 2003 by Robert Maki.
If you walk up to Thompson Hall, the big castle-like building on campus, you can walk down to Veteran’s Mall to Eastlick. From here, you will see a large square pillar simply called “Untitled” by Clint Brown.
From Eastlick, you can head up to Library Hall to Terrell Mall, which is close to Holland Library. Appropriately in front of Holland Library, close to the Compton Union Building (CUB), you will see a sculpture of a man made of books.
If you go to the top of Terrell Library, on the outside, you will encounter the very cool glass roof structure. You will also see a sculpture that changes with the wind called “Persona” by Douglas Hollis.
The CUB and Holland/Terrell Libraries are a very centralized location for WSU students, as the CUB has several places for eating and gathering, as well as the Student Bookstore (SBC). You can also find some art there, assuming that you are there during opening hours.
By now, you have seen several buildings that are over a hundred years old, are a good example of the WSU red-brick architecture aesthetic. One of the newer buildings is the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, where there is 10,000 square feet of exhibition space with a terrific atmosphere to observe them. Exhibits at Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art are in rotation, the building has a beautiful exterior that is appropriately crimson.
Next to the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is another new building known as Smith Center for Undergraduate Education. This is where you will find a sculpture known as “Red Horse Capture” by John Buck.
Near the Smith Center is the Fine Arts building, a place devoted to Art. There you can find Gallery II and Gallery III, which has rotating exhibits throughout the year. You can also find an outdoor sculpture known as “Portal”, by Buster Simpson.
As you pass along the Stadium Way, you will pass several sculptures, particularly along the buildings devoted to Veterinary Sciences. You will note the piece known as “The Caring Call” has a distinct crimson coating on it. The other Tic-Tac-Toe one is “X-Position” by Robert Ellison, and the other amalgamation is “Cobumora” by Andrew Leicester and “A World Beyond” by Brad Wood. I also found this hook-shaped sculpture by Neill Hall, that I can’t find the name of. Of course, we can’t forget about the “Technicolor Heart”.
If you then go back up Stadium way, toward the Gesa field Stadium, you are going to find one fine Cougar Pride sculpture of Butch the Cougar.
In addition to the art that you can find on campus, there are several places to find art in Pullman’s nearby towns.