On Feb. 7, the University of Utah unveiled the “LOVE” sculpture to a reception of donors, including the Eccles and Price families.
“This piece of art is especially special to all of us, because it really encapsulates what our state and community and university for generations has been about,” Lisa Eccles said. “And it’s about caring for each other and lifting each other.”
Sculpture
The statue is located next to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA), having been moved from its previous location on 6th Avenue and 55th Street in New York City. “For some 20 years, many of us in this room have probably had our pictures taken in New York in front of that very same sculpture,” Gretchen Dietrich, the Executive Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, said. “It is truly thrilling that the acquisition of this amazing artwork has come to fruition. Now it is a highlight of the UMFA permanent collection.”
The artwork cost $4.5 million, with roughly half the money coming from the state of Utah. The other half came from private donors. “The State of Utah does put a high premium on art, and spends a little bit of every construction project we have on public art,” President Taylor Randall said…