AMES, IOWA – October 6, 2022 – New engaging public art honoring Jack Trice will be installed outside Jack Trice Stadium, 1732 S 4th St, Ames, IA, within the newly created Albaugh Family Plaza late October. Titled Breaking Barriers, this sculpture by internationally known artist Ivan Toth Depeña features bronze cleat prints in the plaza floor leading up to an Artstone portal in the form of offensive lineman Trice breaking barriers. Visitors can walk through it following in Jack's footsteps.

University Museums at Iowa State University commissioned public artist Depeña to create this sculpture as part of the Art on Campus Collection. Depeña worked with a public art committee from concept to finalization to ensure this work of art memorializes Jack Trice. This Art on Campus committee includes representatives from ISU Athletics, University Museums, the ISU Alumni Association, an ISU Student representative, Facilities Planning and Management, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the University Museums Advisory Committee. Some of these representatives went on to serve on the Jack Trice Commemoration Committee.

“I am interested in pursuing (both as a process and a means of learning) a true intersection between different disciplines,” said Depeña. “What holds my attention is the more elusive moment of ‘fusion’ when developing my work and installations… Regarding process and inspiration for ‘making,’ I am absorbed in combining the ideas of chance and intention as both mechanism and inspiration…”

Jack Trice was an exceptional student and skilled athlete who was the first Black student athlete at Iowa State. He died October 8, 1923 as a result of injuries he sustained playing in his second football game two days prior in Minnesota. The installation of this sculpture marks the beginning of a year-long campus commemoration of Trice. Information about the commemoration can be found online at jacktrice100.com.

There will be free public programs that go along with this new installation throughout the year. On Thursday, November 3, two programs continue the education and awareness campaign. Sketching on Napkins, the Jack Trice Tribute Story: Breaking Barriers will be a program at noon in the Christian Petersen Art Museum, 1017 Morrill Hall, 603 Morrill Road, Ames, exploring the sculpture by Depeña and Trice’s campus legacy as expressed through the power of art. That same day at 4:00 p.m. the virtual program Ivan Toth Depeña Public Art Installation: Breaking Barriers about the memorial sculpture will premiere on the University Museums YouTube channel in partnership with ISU Athletics through Cyclones TV. Information to follow on 2023 programs.

The Breaking Barriers acquisition is made possible by the University Museums through the Joyce Tomlinson Brewer Fund for Art Acquisition; Office of the President; the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; and Iowa State University Athletics.

For the most up-to-date information regarding Breaking Barriers and other Jack Trice works of art in the Art on Campus Collection, go online to museums.iastate.edu/visit/art-on-campus-collection/jack-trice.

Ivan Toth Depeña (American, b. 1972) is an artist currently based in Charlotte, NC, after having lived and worked in Miami, FL and New York, NY. Depeña’s  design studio is known as Airboat, Inc. With a master’s in architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, Depeña’s artistic production is informed by his experience in art, architecture, technology and design, and encompasses a range of media.

Depeña has been working increasingly in the public art realm and maintains a rigorous and experimental, self-directed studio practice. He has exhibited extensively, nationally and internationally, in both solo and group exhibitions, and his work is held in numerous public and private collections, such as the Colorado Regional Transportation District, The Ohio State University, and the Nashville International Airport.

ivandepena.com

University Museums is a distinctive organization that encompasses two art museums, a National Historic Landmark historic home museum, a sculpture garden, and one of the largest campus public art collections in the nation. University Museums brings world-class exhibitions with educational programming to Iowa State University actively acquires works of art to add to the more than 30,000 permanent collection objects, conserves and preserves collections, conducts and publishes curatorial scholarship, and fosters student engagement.

museums.iastate.edu

Iowa State University is home to one of the largest campus public art programs in the United States. Over 2,500 public works of art make up the Art on Campus Collection, and are located across campus in buildings, courtyards, open spaces and classrooms. Iowa State’s public art contributes to a beautiful campus, and it is required to be intellectually relevant and utilized in curricula. The Art on Campus Collection and Program, formalized in 1980, includes acquisition, care and maintenance in addition to scholarship and educational programming.

museums.iastate.edu/visit/art-on-campus-collection

To schedule interviews, photograph events, or request high-resolution images, please contact Alisha Abner at 515.294.3342 or aabner@iastate.edu.