Walking across campus, you’ll come across plenty of iconic landmarks such as the towering white cube that is Dana Porter (DP) or the ultra sleek and modern E7 building. However, what you may or may not notice are the plethora of statues and sculptures dotting the paths, fields, and interiors of its many buildings. These art pieces share deep and interesting stories — from relocations, to funny pranks, to kidnappings — and they’re worth taking a peek at if you’re curious or if you want to (responsibly) contribute to their legacy.
Break – MC
Starting out near MC, Break is a sculpture created by Bruce Watson and first installed in 1971. It features what appears to be a large egg-shaped stone with its top sheared off and a big crack down the middle. Despite its very rock-like appearance, the sculpture was actually constructed out of fibreglass, and its shape earned it the nickname of the MC Egg. The sculpture also features a fountain, which in the early days was subject to pranks where detergent was put in the water so that the fountain foamed.
Break by Bruce Watson, otherwise known as the “egg.” (Photo credit: Janine Taha)
Quasar – MC
If you ever find yourself walking through MC’s second-floor entrance under the QNC bridge, you’ll be greeted by the wall-mounted wooden sculpture named Quasar. Created by Walter Redinger and also unveiled in 1971, this sculpture comprises six wooden squares with an intricately carved bulge near the middle. The beautifully curved and abstract shapes perhaps accentuate the creative thinking that encompasses the research and lectures within MC. Or perhaps the bulge is more reminiscent of everyone trying to break free from their 8:30 a.m. statistics class.
Triad – B1
Taking a stroll down the path towards the Arts Quad, you’ll spot the towering metal sculpture known as Triad outside of B1. One of the earliest installed sculptures, it was created by artist Ron Baird in 1965. Not much is known about its history, but the unique twisting metal beams certainly make it a recognizable landmark. It’s just a little unfortunate that this beautiful work also happens to be right next to a trio of trash cans.
Porcellino – ML
Sitting outside the main entrance to ML is Porcellino, a bronze statue of a boar and also the arts faculty mascot. Originally donated by former math professor Henry Crapo in 1978, the statue was cast by Marinelli of Florence in 1962 from a seventeenth-century mould based on an ancient Greek marble sculpture. The original sculpture currently sits in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. There have been many copies of the sculpture made, which can be found spread across Canada, the U.S., Europe, Australia, and Japan.
First placed inside the ML foyer, Porcellino was kidnapped in 1991 by engineering students and dressed up as a dog. After this, a more permanent site was decided upon, and in 1994, Porcellino was moved to his current home — with a celebratory pig roast to mark the event. However, just recently in June 2022, Porcellino was once again kidnapped by engineers and placed in front of E5 for about three months before being returned to his pedestal outside of ML. It really does make you wonder how these engineers keep managing to steal the solid 700-pound statue — probably with black magic. Or a forklift.
Porcellino outside ML. (Photo credit: Janine Taha)
Walking Girl – ML
Also outside ML, but on the basement level across from EV1, is another bronze statue of a walking girl. Aptly named Walking Girl, this sculpture was created by artist Almuth Lütkenhaus in 1972 and was originally erected as a memorial to Muriel DeGre, who played a large role in the acquisition of public works for the University of Waterloo. The statue features a small pool that surrounds the figure of the girl, in which she spent an unfortunate couple of days during the face-plant incident of 2001. This was not actually an act of vandalism, but rather the result of bad weather and rusting on the statue’s feet. After she was discovered to have fallen face down into the pool, the statue was promptly repaired.
Man and Woman – PAS
Going inside PAS, hanging from the ceiling of the main atrium are two fibreglass statues of, as the name suggests, a man and a woman. Also created by artist Almuth Lütkenhaus, the statues were installed in 1973. There isn’t much known in terms of the history of the statue, but they do elegantly decorate the unique skylight-lit atrium of PAS and are worth seeing — assuming you don’t get lost in the maze of hallways trying to find them.
Pickle Forks – PAS
Standing tall and proud, the Pickle Forks sculpture can be seen on the field outside of PAS, directly across from Ring Road. Officially named A Sculpture Garden (although even the artist refers to them as Pickle Forks), it was created by Ron Baird in 1970 as a series of tall, colourful abstract metal shapes. Originally, this arrangement of the sculpture was placed in the HH courtyard, but it had to be removed to make way for the building’s expansion in 2015. After this, it was eventually installed outside of PAS, with its arrangement modified to resemble a Swiss army knife, as each separate metal shape was attached to a single concrete pillar.
Early Morning Dream – DWE
Moving away from the Arts Quad and heading to the engineering buildings, outside of DWE and across from CPH stands the Early Morning Dream sculpture. Created by artist Krystyna Sadowska in 1972, this abstract series of steel shapes is often painted over by engineering students in creative and colourful ways. Done in the dead of night, the group known as NEAC (Non Existent Action Committee) will periodically get to work transforming the sculpture into something new. Currently led by the Engineering Society president, Garv Arora, he says that the painting of the sculpture “is a tradition considering it has been painted over and over since 1972.” As of now, the sculpture features bright multicoloured stripes and patterns to celebrate Pride Month this June. Sporting the same rigid structure, but with a constantly shifting appearance, it always seems fresh, yet still familiar — kind of like an early morning dream.
Goose Statue – PAC
Completed just last year, the small park outside of PAC is now graced by the statue of a goose spreading its wings as it’s about to take flight. With proposals for the statue taking off in 2023 and massive support from the student body, the art was commissioned by WUSA with a total cost of around $33,000. Although the flying goose statue does not yet have an official name, it still stands as a symbol of the soaring heights that Waterloo students can achieve (and of the loud honking birds heard across campus that we all hate to love).
The goose statue outside of PAC. (Photo credit: Janine Taha)
The sculptures that are no longer
Although we’ve finished our tour of the current statues and sculptures that live on campus, there are still many that were once here and with stories worth talking about.
First up, there is the sculpture known as David of Sassoun that used to be outside of MC and was removed to make way for QNC. First installed in 1977, the sculpture was a twisting sheet of painted metal that, when viewed from the right angle, looked like it spelled out the letters “CS”. However, this was likely not intended by the artist Armand Buzbuzian, who instead modelled the twisting shapes to look like an abstracted view of a man on a rearing horse, relating to the ancient Armenian hero whose name the sculpture derives from.
Next is Convolution, which was a twisting, worm-like sculpture made of red-painted fibreglass that sat outside the Physics building. First created in 1968 by artist Ed Zelenak, the sculpture was damaged by vandals in 1975 and subsequently repaired and put back in its place. Then the sculpture was once again vandalized in 1976, but this time with explosives (makes you wonder who disliked the sculpture that much). After that dramatic act of sculpture terrorism, it was permanently removed as repairs were impossible.
Finally, outside of SCH, there used to be a sculpture of two concrete figures raising their arms that was first installed in 1971. Created by artist Theodore Harlander and named Joy, the sculpture used to be part of a small tradition where graduating engineering students would put an iron ring on the pinky finger of one of the statue’s hands. In 2004, the sculpture was seemingly vandalized when it was found smashed into pieces with a spray-painted message, stating: “engineers are grrrreat.” Many theories sprang up about arts students committing the act, perhaps as a retaliation for the famous kidnapping of Porcellino. The truth? A large delivery truck accidentally backed into the sculpture, and some opportunistic students likely spray-painted the message as a joke afterward. It has since been completely removed from the site.
