Background
Given that Carleton’s currency is named after Schiller and his popularity extends into ice sculptures, butter sculptures, and the tradition of stealing and hiding the ever-elusive Schiller bust, we thought that it was only fitting to include him in our mascot exhibition.
So how did a random 18th-century German poet’s bust become so important to us? The story goes that in 1957, a student took the bust as a room decoration. As the years went on, people stole him from one another and began adding rules like the temporary keepers had to display him to the rest of the school once a year. Schiller’s keepers and prospective owners go to great lengths to protect and risk their prized possession: the Schiller bust has ridden on horseback, been on Air Force One with Bill Clinton, TV shows such as The Colbert Report, Desperate Housewives, as well as all the way to Mexico!
Considering everything Schiller has been through, it comes as no surprise that the bust people may chance upon today is not going to be the original one due to how often he has been shattered, glued, and replaced. Our group has been very fortunate in that we discovered the bust’s current location AND only had to exchange emails to gain access to him.
Ice Schiller sculpture made for the 2021 Winter Ice Sculpture Festival hosted by the Students Activities Office
The Model
If you have Agisoft’s MetaShape app, click the button below to download the MetaShape archive file of Schiller’s model for higher quality.
