Sheldon sculpture tour

Outdoor

Sheldon Museum of Art has more than thirty sculptures displayed across the University of Nebraska-Lincoln City and East Campuses.

I participated in a student volunteer docent program at Sheldon. One of the training sessions was a campus sculpture garden tour.  Here's what I learned:

1. Sheldon offers many university engagements, such as scheduled tours or developing assignments with faculty. The outdoor sculpture tour is one of the engagement offerings, yet it is not well-known.
2. Sheldon's researcher mentioned one professor only learned about the faculty engagements after they visited the facility.
3. This made me reflect on my relationship with campus art. We walk by these sculptures every day and never think about just standing there for a moment and wondering about why they are where they are, and why the artist made this. The sculptures become ordinary. We are rarely curious about them. And we don't know Sheldon offers tours to learn about them. 

This inspired a campaign idea to raise campus awareness of the Sheldon's engagement offerings. 

The Idea

The disconnect: For students and faculty, the sculptures on campus had become ordinary. For Sheldon Museum of Art, its university engagement offerings are not well-known among the people (faculty and students) for whom they designed those programs.

The focus: While there are many university engagements, the sculpture garden tour can be the highlight for our campus community to start learning more about Sheldon's offerings. 

The Opportunity: The sculptures around campus are located at spots where students and faculty walk by every day. They are already Sheldon's carefully placed billboards.   

The idea:  Make the ordinary noticeable to subvert people's daily scene.