A personality larger than life

IUSB prof's portrait sculpture of Wells will include 'chatting benches'

By Kevin MacDonald

Harold "Tuck" Langland, professor of fine arts at Indiana University South Bend, has been commissioned by Indiana University to create a portrait sculpture of University Chancellor Herman B Wells.

Harold "Tuck" Langland (left) and IUSB Chancellor Kenneth Perrin and his wife, Shirley, discuss the redering of the proposed larger-than-life portrait sculpture of Herman B Wells which will be placed on the IUB campus

Wells

Wells served as IU's president from 1938 to 1962. Now 97, he is often credited with transitioning IU from an ordinary Midwestern state university to an internationally recognized institute of research and scholarship.

Langland's sculpture, which will be slightly larger than life at 110 percent, will depict Wells seated on a bench. The design will include a seating area for the sculpture and three matching bronze benches bearing the IU logo.

Langland's vision is for passersby to feel "welcome" to join Wells on the benches for a chat. The project is expected to take about a year, at which time the sculpture will be placed in a wooded area on the Bloomington campus.

To create the Wells sculpture, Langland spoke with Wells as well as many of the chancellor's old friends. He also has viewed hundreds of photographs and spoken with former colleagues to assure that the pose is characteristic of the man during his time as president.

Langland has created sculptures for IUSB's campus, including Memory, a seven-foot bronze sculpture dedicated in April on the IUSB mall. He also sculpted the portrait relief of Dorothy and Darwin Wiekamp which hangs in the main corridor of Wiekamp Hall.