Artist: Dimitri Hadzi
Year: 1986
Donated by Robert Larson ’56 and Karen Larson
“I consider this my best piece of sculpture. It will serve as a didactic reference, providing a link to history and a focus for the future.”
Dimitri Hadzi, as quoted in “Public Art: More Than Meets The Eye” by Susan Thurston and Nancy J. Ashmore, from the Carleton Archives
The Carleton Arch, built outside the Gould Library in 1986, was designed by internationally renowned sculptor Dimitri Hadzi and commissioned as a gift to the College by Robert Larson ‘56 and Karen Larson. The sculpture is 18 feet tall, constructed primarily of six different kinds of stone from six different quarries around the U.S. and the world, and supported by steel pins, concrete, and epoxy. The materials were an intentional choice by Hadzi– the different stones and layers of epoxy give the piece an interesting texture and change their hue in the rain. The piece sits in “Founder’s Court”, a paved brick circular area surrounded by a short wall and nearby “satellite pieces” to Hadzi’s arch. When asked about the symbolic meaning of the piece, Hadzi described it as a youthful, hopeful symbol of “strength”, “solidity”, and “permanence” (Mason, 1986).
As discussed in Carletonian articles from around the time of the sculpture’s construction, however, many students and faculty disagreed with the value of the piece. The sculpture, which replaced a bed of petunias in front of the library, was viewed by many as an eyesore, a “waste of money,” and “unmistakably phallic”– to summarize the views of those against the sculpture with a quote from one student, “it sucks” (Claybour, 1986; Longley, 1986). Other students and faculty defended the piece, urging their peers to take a second look at the Arch and give it a chance to earn more serious thought and appreciation.
Nowadays, most students wouldn’t likely think twice about the Carleton Arch. In nearly 40 years, it’s become an accepted part of Carleton’s campus.
