USC, the oldest major independent co-educational and non-sectarian university in the American West, celebrated its 100th anniversary on October 6, 1980. "Conceived by practical visionaries of the day and born of Methodism's nineteenth century zeal for higher education, the University of Southern California came into being the same year that James A. Garfield was elected President of the United States and Thomas Alva Edison was granted a patent for incandescent lamp." (Trojan Gallery, p.4) During the first half century of the University's existence, public artwork was conceived within the fairly homogenous ideals of nineteenth century education, depicting the education of the mind and the body. These ideals were exemplified by the relief plaques commemorating student life on Bridge Hall and Gwynn Wilson building, and by the statues on the clock tower of the Bovard Administration building. It is important to note that most of the buildings constructed during that time period including the Science Hall, Mudd Hall of Philosophy, Hoose Library of Philosophy and the Doheny Library, were built in an Italianate style, harking back to the Renaissance and pre-Renaissance periods as the cradle of modern thought and sensibility.The 1960s and 1970s were a time of academic enrichment and physical growth of the University, and this was reflected in the sculptures which were acquired at that time. Many of the public art works from that period relied on abstract definitions of volume and space. The page on sculptures, plaques, reliefs, murals, and fountains at USC presents many examples of what can be generally termed public art-works, many of which are symbolic of the University's educational sensibility.
Although for many years USC has been located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, within easy reach of the African American and Latino communities, most of its public art works may be traced within the West European and North American tradition of artistic expression. However, in 1996, USC commissioned one of Los Angeles' premier muralists, Judith F. Baca, to paint the mural La Memoria de Nuestra Tierra (The Memory of Our Land) in the Topping Student Center to commemorate the history of this region.
- Brief history of USC, as told through its significant buildings (through 1961)
- Buildings on the USC campus
Henley, W. Ballentine and Arther E. Neeley, eds. Cardinal and Gold; A Pictoral and Factual Record of the Highlights of Sixty Years of Progress on the Southern California Campus with Views and News of Some of the 70,000 Students who Played Their Part in the Growth of a Great University, 1880-1940. Los Angeles: The General Alumni Association, 1939.
Reynolds, John H. The Trojan Gallery; A Pictorial History of the University of Southern California, 1880/1980. Los Angeles: University of Southern California, 1980. The index to this book of photographs is located on the Trojan Gallery web site.
"Marking Time; A stroll around campus turns into a treck through Trojan History." USC Trojan Family Magazine, Autumn 1999, pp. 35-36, 45-47.
Do not reproduce information from this site without acknowledgement of the artists and their works, or of the authors of this site.
Created by Ruth Wallach, USC Libraries
1997. Updated 10/2004.