TAMPA, Fla. — Move over, New York: an iconic sculpture is coming to Tampa.
The University of Tampa announced that it has acquired Robert Indiana's six-foot "LOVE" sculpture, purchased and then donated to the school by Gene and Patsy McNichols. It will be displayed on a campus lawn to the east of Plant Hall in front of the Southard Family Building.
There will also be an interactive "sculpture trail" that will add 15-20 sculptures to the campus.
Indiana created the design in 1964 before producing the first version out of core-ten steel in 1970. There are now more than 50 editions all over the globe.
"[Its] effect on people was immediate and spontaneous. People, people could just not resist climbing in, through around, all over the LOVE," Indiana said in a 1991 interview published on his site. "And of course, that wasn’t so happy because Core-Ten steel is very, very, rather a tender medium and takes scuffing and graffiti and so forth very badly. But that was a very gratifying experience for me. It was quite obvious that everybody did love the LOVE."
The Museum of Modern Art described "LOVE" as a Pop Art masterpiece.
Four other sculptures were also acquired: “Zephyr” by Jeremy Guy, “Open Window Monument” by Ted Schaal, “DNA of Success” by Robert Romero and “On a Roll” by Jack Hill.
“As many say, we need more love in the world,” said UT President Ron Vaughn, who is retiring from the school on May 31.
UT said the installation dates and unveiling of the initial sculptures are forthcoming.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
