Randy Hanning put his sculptures where he thought they belonged — in the Quad.
Hanning, a studio art senior, placed two of the three sculptures from his “Reconciled” series in the Quad at the end of last semester.
One of the Quad sculptures depicted a man wearing a hat standing up against a tree. The other depicted a man sitting in vines. They were both near the Agricultural Administration Building.
Sometime Tuesday night Hanning said he moved the sculpture of the man standing against the tree to an undisclosed location in his neighborhood.
On Wednesday afternoon, Facility Services removed Hanning’s other sculpture from the Quad and returned it to the College of Art and Design.
“We don’t want to destroy or throw away the art,” said Paul Favaloro, director of resources for the Office of Facility Services.
Favaloro said because the new semester is underway and more students are on campus, it was time to remove the artwork.
“Any other artwork has to pass by the design and development committee,” Favaloro said.
Danny Belanger, director of external relations at the college of Art and Design, said the College works with Facility Services to display artwork, but Hanning had not sought permission from the committee.
“Generally, students don’t ask for formal permission,” Belanger said. “That’s how so-called guerilla art pops up.”
Belanger said Facility Services’ policy to remove unapproved artwork is for the safety of students.
“We don’t want to be known as rogue artists that just put things where we see fit,” Belanger said.
“They didn’t belong in the sculpture park,” Hanning said.
Hanning said he placed the sculptures in the Quad in preparation for a critique in his “Special Studies in Sculpture” class.
“It’s not just about critiques. Artistically, I put my work where I think it belongs,” Hanning said.
Facility Services contacted the College of Art and Design before removing the sculpture and asked what should be done with it, Favaloro said.