Public Artwork

The Oregon Percent for Art in Public Places law appropriates 1% of direct construction funds for the acquisition of artwork. This funding is possible for new and remodeled state buildings with construction costs of $100,000 or greater. With the help of the Oregon Arts Commission, the HEC will feature three talented and unique artists.

A 10-member committee selected the art featured in the HEC. The Art Selection Committee consisted of representatives from RCC and SOU, members of the architectural team, and visual arts professionals from around the Medford area. The decisions made by the committee were made by a majority ruling.

The interior atrium features three large metal ribbons hanging from the ceiling created by Tim Prentice. Mr. Prentice is a kinetic sculptor from Connecticut who received a Masters Degree in architecture from Yale in 1960. "Prentice's sculptures, so responsive to transformations in the light and air surrounding them, are about fluid movement and change, reminding us that everything is in flux," says Michael Amy from Art in America.

The student welcome center on the first floor and a study area on the third floor of the HEC displays painted glass walls created by Lonnie Feather. Ms. Feathers, who lives in Portland, Oregon, graduated from Portland State University in 1987 and focuses on glass techniques. She has had numerous and varied commissions since 1982 including the McGee-Neill Memorial Sculpture in Ashland, OR, University of Oregon, Oregon State University, and Portland International Airport. The glass walls add vibrant color with light shifting dramatically through panels that are sandcarved and reverse painted panels corresponding with richly textured panels of cast glass creating an inviting and relaxed atmosphere. "The finished design reflect the efforts of Rogue Community College and Southern Oregon University to bring this center to fruition and, thus, the title 'It Begins Within the Circle.' It is the circles in our universe that connect us all."

Richard Swanson is a talented artist from Helena, Montana who uses ceramic and metal to create some very unique installations for museums, landscaping, and dance collaborations. The art installation at the HEC will welcome students at the main entrance with half of the installation on the exterior brick wall and the other half on the interior wall. The installation resembles a piece Swanson completed for the Holter Museum of Art in Montana entitled Jambalaya. In an essay written by Ben Mitchell in 2006, viewing Jambalaya is described as being "...invited into a new place, a place where, Alice in Wonderland-like, the two- and three-dimensional worlds shimmer and oscillate and dance, ultimately creating the sense of a new dimension, a dimension of the eye and the body made welcome by the delightful artifice of the art." The creation at the HEC will include symbols with various cultural, educational, and geographical meanings.

Click here to read the Mail Tribune article about Swanson's installation.

Watch a video of Richard Swanson installing his artwork.