Having trouble finishing your homework in your dorm? Visit the East Reading Room on the Upper Level of the Main Library; the new Scholar’s Rock on display there may be just the inspiration you need.
The Scholar’s Rock was a gift to the Museum of Art by Robert P. '64 and Barbara P. Youngman, who have given generously over the years to encourage the study and collection of Asian art. Appreciated for their contorted shapes and fissured surfaces, ornamental rocks have been collected in China since the Han dynasty (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.). Small rocks were displayed on scholars’ desks, while the largest ones were incorporated into gardens. They thus played an ornamental role analogous to that of figural sculpture in the West. The Scholar’s Rock in the East Reading Room is carefully positioned on a wood pediment designed by Ken Pohlman of the museum and constructed by Stark Mountain Woodcrafters.
Come see the Scholar’s Rock, then settle in for many hours of productive contemplation.
Other art on display around campus is described on the Committee on Art in Public Places Exhibits page.