Monday, July 31, 2006
Schlechte Façade adds to grandeur of Rice Library
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The Schlechte Façade is a limestone relief that hangs 30 feet high on the rotunda of the new David L. Rice Library at USI. It depicts the Liberal Arts Center that is located west of the new building, with items used by today’s students in the foreground. The artistic façade is made possible by a major gift from Dorothea Johnson Schlechte, an Evansville resident since 1948 and longtime supporter of the arts in the community. She will celebrate her 99th birthday in December 2006. Two USI professors collaborated on the design. John McNaughton, professor emeritus of art, said that he and colleague Katie Waters, professor of art, wanted the sculpture to be a view of campus as seen from the new building. McNaughton met Schlechte when he was a new faculty member at USI. He was searching in 1970 for a venue for a student art show, and she arranged an exhibit in a gallery at the Washington Square Branch of Old National Bank. Her husband Walter was chairman of Old National. When he recalls the introduction, McNaughton said, “She was the first person to reach out, and now in retirement she’s still helping me out.” The limestone relief is approximately nine feet by 10 feet in size. Stone masons at Evans Limestone Company in Bedford, Indiana, carved the panel. Two partner limestone reliefs, with other views of campus, hang in an interior library corridor with a plaque recognizing Schlechte. |
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