TP, old alum.. I have to hand it to you.. again.. you DO get it and that’s the best. And, that you are now suggesting a handbook like we had in the sixties which would be very simple to reproduce is a huge step towards getting back into our old traditions and, perhaps, creating new ones.
Colorado State College was a small school with its main thrust to turn out teachers. We were not a big institution. Our sports teams were pretty good. We turned out decent teachers. Theatre and music programs were on their way. I attended CSC because it was available and close (I grew up in Greeley) and I was certainly not prepared for the ‘real world.’
We had freshman beanies and the Handbook you recommend was required reading by every freshman. At any time, an upperclassman could stop you and ask you about the history of the college and you were supposed to know. Freshmen knew each other immediately because of the silly beanies and could bond with other new students. The days of having frosh bow down to Totem Teddy were gone, but Hi Bridge, where freshmen were not allowed to sit and mostly jocks would flirt with equally flirty coeds was a great hang out. It was decades past raccoon coats and pork pie hats, but, some of that energy was still in the air as we all prepared for Homecoming. Homecoming was a big deal then with rallies and a huge parade that involved all of Greeley. The town embraced the college and the students were a part of the community. Autumn in Greeley was a time for football and rah rah stuff that may seem passé now. Or, at least that’s what I hear. There’s no parade and the activities on campus are minimal at best.
My artwork is specifically made to be ephemeral and to garner attention for Tradition. I’m flattered that Mr. TP is interested enough to come up with ideas that may promote some semblance of a totem or a bear or something that harkens back to the early roots of our alma mater. It’s great that he has taken time to come up with workable ideas and may even take time to help promote them. A small handbook with all the information, including the UNC Code of Conduct, might be produced or even simply included in the first issue of The Mirror for all students to have, especially Freshmen.
It may be that, as has been said, Dawn Weimer’s big bronze bear might be a new rallying point for the university. For me, though.. because I had a relationship with Totem Teddy from the age of five, that’s the image that is still important to me. That’s why I’ve been passionate about it and why (even though TP isn’t a fan) my temporary installation was important for me to install. I’m genuinely flattered that he took time to figure out where it is.
Can you actually mean that students don’t have time to figure out abstract art???? Is that really the type of university that we want to encourage? A place where only the obvious is acceptable? Do we really want to encourage an institution where paint by numbers learning and multiple choice tests are the norm? What about a way to get students to think outside the box? Is critical thinking a threat? Is going beyond our limits such a challenge that we should simply do things the way they’ve always been done? Playing it safe?
What I love about this medium.. blogs and emails and such.. is that we can communicate in a pretty honest way and maybe even come to some mutual agreements or over come disputes by discussing them openly. If flames appear here, so much the better.. Flaming reveals the deep emotions that some folks have. I publish my name and email address in the hope that if I can be a lightning rod for ideas, I’ll be happy to take the heat.
TP.. I really respect your ideas and the fact that my work doesn’t appeal to you is really wonderful. That you took the time to find it and to make your comments indicates that you are not stuck somewhere and are totally into finding out things for yourself. You are an alum, so, I’d hope that you’d get in touch with President Norton and make your views known. Help write a new handbook? There are copies of the old ones in the UNC archives, I believe. Make new ones..
Finally, I agree that maybe the time has come to let the totem pass away. For what it’s worth, Totem Teddy stood on the UNC campus, probably, longer than it stood in Angoon. That it was a part of my personal history for over sixty years is, well, personal and I get to have that for as long as I live.
We live in a time when most of us are preoccupied with the future, let alone the present. I did a little personal survey when on campus last week and saw that more than half the students I saw were either on cell phones or listening to iPods. When I moved the wooden matrix from the UC through campus, only a handful of kids actually wondered what the heck was going on. I would proselytize the Faith of Totem Teddy to them and most had never heard of the source of the school mascot, The Bear. After while I felt like an evangelical talking about Jesus! Not there’s anything wrong with that!
But, TP.. if you are into helping with a movement to lay a little history on the kids, then, I’m with you and for you. My artwork is not really important.. What’s important is engaging the university in some sense of purpose that includes everyone: students, faculty, staff, alumni and administration. Currently, the feeling on the campus is just sad. I believe that a bit of tradition can rally spirit. And, it’s the Spirit of the Totem that I’ve attempted to retain in the cairn. What, do you think, would it take to get everyone on the same page: dedicated to an institution where Bear Pride and the sort of energy that may buoy everyone into a new space that includes great academics, impressive sports, world class theatre and art and an atmosphere of caring?
It’s that last that most concerns me. If all the university is concerned about is making money, especially the attitude of Mr. DeWitt in Alumni Affairs, dismissing my ideas by ignoring them because he perceives me as a shallow pocket… then, it’ll take a major effort on the parts of people who understand that at the center of any institution, there must reside a ‘heart.’ Without heart, everything grinds to a stop. Finding the heart and keeping it healthy and alive will generate the energy that UNC needs to become a happy place again. And, yes.. it was a happy place when I was there so very long ago.
It takes the dedication of men like TP who are close by and who, at least, care enough to have an opinion. Men like him who may be inspired to gather other friends, students, alumni to his side and then to make small steps toward resuscitating an institution that needs to find a way to grow and be a happier place. Certainly, not Disneyland, but a place where everyone on the campus is involved and may decide to get off the phone or their iPod and participate with other human beings in their own education and a time in life like no other. The college experience.
If my passion for one small segment of a tradition can expand to just a few others, maybe there’s hope.. Otherwise, you have a gigantic ‘institution’ that will survive on practicality and such, but without its heart, will, to me, simply be a zombie cranking out diplomas and less than joyful people to perpetuate their kind.
So.. TP.. are you up for the task? Find a way to reinvigorate your campus? Make a bonfire of my artwork! That’ll show me! Do you really understand what this is all about?
I think you may. And, I hope you’ll do the right thing for alma mater in your own way.
And, for those of you who may lurk here. Go beyond your limits and make a difference. Certainly, the difference I have made is minimal. But, we do what we can, often in the face of resistance. Do what you can and don’t take No for an answer.. Especially, don’t be ignored!
And, in closing, I must note the passing of a hero. Robert Rauschenberg has been my inspiration for many years. He died at the age of 82. This quote from his obituary in the NY Times rings true, perhaps, for what we've been discussing here. He said,
“Anything you do will be an abuse of somebody else’s aesthetics. I think you’re born an artist or not. I couldn’t have learned it. And I hope I never do because knowing more only encourages your limitations.”
Much love… Rest in joy, Mr. R.
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