Featured Member Project

Featured Member

The Poe Road Public Art Project was officially unveiled a few months after the course that conceived the idea. Photo courtesy of Greg Mueller and Bowling Green State University.

The Public Art Committee of Bowling Green State University wanted to create a class that would give upper-level undergraduate students the professional experience of competing for and producing a piece of commissioned public art from start to finish. Although administrators were told repeatedly that students would not be able to pull it off, they proceeded. Sculpture instructor Greg Mueller spearheaded the idea, offering with “The Poe Road Improvement Project” public art course in the fall of 2005.

Guest artists, architects, and landscape and urban designers visited Mueller’s classroom; exposing students to the vast visions their designs could take. Working within a $20,000 budget, each of the three groups designed a work of art to serve as a gateway to the campus. The proposals were presented to a jury that represented the city and the university and also included public artist Hanna Jubran. The jury commissioned “The People: A Portrait of the Community” by art students Megan Small, Jason Karas, and Steve Williams, as the winning design.

The 75 silhouette panels of “The People: A Portrait of the Community” celebrate the social, historical, and contemporary culture of Bowling Green, OH. Replacing a chain link fence on the corner of the campus, the 350-foot wall is a creative solution that links the university to the rest of the city in a welcoming way. The sculptural metal wall portraying large-scale, laser-cut silhouettes of actual citizens of Bowling Green and the history of the Great Black Swamp. 

The students spent three months photographing the people of the community by visiting area businesses, schools, and streets. The team also had to garner city and county support, investigate how to construct and assemble public art, get the necessary building permits, and finally erect the piece they designed. They received assistance from Defiance Metal Products, which donated the steel and laser cutting services that made the project possible, the city of Bowling Green, Wood County, the Ohio Department of Transportation, and Ohio Arts Council.

In May of 2007, the official unveiling of the Poe Road Public Art Project took place, marking the success of a potentially risky move. Community members from the university and beyond came to celebrate the art project’s completion and show their support. The local Public Broadcasting Service affiliate was on hand to film the unveiling, and after following the class and resulting commission, they have produced a documentary that will air later this month.