Institute For Advanced Study Dedicates Sculpture Marking 75th Anniversary Of Its Founding
New Work by Elyn Zimmerman Installed at Institute Pond
May 20, 2005, Princeton, N.J. An undulating granite and steel sculpture by noted artist Elyn Zimmerman was dedicated today on the grounds of the Institute for Advanced Study, one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. The May 20 ceremony marks the 75th anniversary of the Institute's certificate of incorporation.
The sculpture consists of three curved granite panels, totaling forty feet in length, suspended from and surrounded by groupings of powder-coated stainless steel poles of varying heights and thicknesses. It appears as a sinuous bench floating amid slender trees. Situated along the southern edge of the Institute's pond and in front of the woods, the sculpture fits gracefully into the environment.
Dedicated to the achievements in science and scholarship of the Institute for Advanced Study, the sculpture was made possible through the generosity of Institute Trustee Robert B. Menschel. A senior director at Goldman Sachs and Company, Menschel also serves as President of the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Over the course of his 12 years on the Board of the Institute, Menschel has funded scholarships and academic programs for the work of the Institute's Members. He was also instrumental in "Big Ideas," a major four-part miniseries that aired in 2003 about the Institute, its Faculty and research produced by THIRTEEN/Channel 13. Menschel has always found the Institute pond to be a source of inspiration, and he is pleased to show his appreciation for the Institute through the addition of this work of art.
Each of the sculpture's three benches bears an inscribed quotation from key figures in the Institute's history: Abraham Flexner, whose vision inspired the foundation of the Institute and who served as its first director; Albert Einstein, one of the Institute's first Professors, who spent the last 22 years of his life here; and George F. Kennan, renowned diplomat and author on foreign policy, who was appointed Professor in 1956 and remained until his death in March 2005 at age 101.
Peter Goddard, Director of the Institute, states, "Elyn Zimmerman's sculpture provides a sensitive and original combination of elegant form and practical amenity. The benches invite the passerby to stop, sit and contemplate surrounded by the Institute pond and woods. Time and space for thought on fundamental questions in beautiful surroundings are among the important resources that the Institute offers to the leading scientists and scholars who come from all over the world to work here."
Present at the May 20 dedication ceremony were: Princeton Mayor Phyllis Marchand; Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes; New Jersey Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman; Institute Director Peter Goddard; Institute Trustee Robert B. Menschel; and artist Elyn Zimmerman.
The granite for the sculpture came from Cold Spring Granite Co. in Minnesota, and the sculpture was installed by The Iron Shop of Broomall, PA.
About Elyn Zimmerman
Elyn Zimmerman received an undergraduate degree with majors in art and perceptual psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she also earned her Masters in Fine Arts. At UCLA, she studied painting with Richard Diebenkorn and photography with Robert Heineken. While in graduate school, she became acquainted with James Turrell and Robert Irwin and soon became part of the circle of "Light and Space" artists.
Zimmerman's large-scale outdoor projects for private and public institutions include works at the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C. and O'Hare International Center in Chicago, as well as a fountain memorial for the victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. This latter project was destroyed in the 2001 attack.
About the Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study is one of the world’s leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. The Institute exists to encourage and support curiosity-driven research in the sciences and humanities—the original, often speculative thinking that produces advances in knowledge that change the way we understand the world. Work at the Institute takes place in four Schools: Historical Studies, Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Social Science. It provides for the mentoring of scholars by a permanent Faculty of approximately 30, and it ensures the freedom to undertake research that will make significant contributions in any of the broad range of fields in the sciences and humanities studied at the Institute.
The Institute, founded in 1930, is a private, independent academic institution located in Princeton, New Jersey. Its more than 6,000 former Members hold positions of intellectual and scientific leadership throughout the academic world. Thirty-three Nobel Laureates and 40 out of 56 Fields Medalists, as well as many winners of the Wolf and MacArthur prizes, have been affiliated with the Institute.