When Tonia Lowe approached the eastern edge of Observatory Hill at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s campus on Friday, she saw something gleaming in the sunlight.
At first, her mother, Nancy Lowe, thought it was just a car.
But as the pair came closer, it was clear they had spotted Truman Lowe’s newly-installed aluminum sculpture “Effigy: Bird Form.”
“Seeing it for the first time from a distance, and then getting closer, kind of made my heart swell with joy and pride,” Tonia Lowe said. “It also struck me as ‘Oh my gosh, this is exactly the perfect spot for it. You can see it from all different angles.'”
Truman Lowe, who was Tonia’s father, created the bird-shaped piece in 1997. It made its debut at the White House for a yearlong exhibition, before being transferred to the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Ariz.
Most recently, it was exhibited at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.
Now, the sculpture has been acquired by UW-Madison, where Truman Lowe was an art professor. Local dignitaries, including UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin and District 3 Ho-Chunk Nation Rep. Sarah Lemieux, welcomed the sculpture back Friday at an unveiling ceremony.