Colorwalk Opening Events

The Penn State University Campus Arts Initiative unveiled Lauren Herzak-Bauman’s site-specific art work, “Colorwalk,” on Monday, November 11th, 2019 at Penn State Behrend. There was a meet the artist event at 11 a.m. outside the Reed Union Building, followed by an artist’s talk at 5 p.m. in the Metzgar center of Penn State Behrend.

“The goal of Colorwalk is to create an artistic presence on campus by placing a colorful gesture that both highlights and contrasts the landscape,” says Herzak-Bauman. The piece is composed of thousands of plastic discs stacked upon each other, creating vertical bars that meander through the treeline. 

Colorwalk. Photo Credit: Dalton Dougherty. Penn State Behrend, 2019.

Colorwalk is a collaboration between Penn State Behrend’s Plastics Engineering Technology and Arts Administration programs. ARTSA students played a large role in planning as well as in the selection of Herzak-Bauman from nearly 160 applicants, while PLET students molded over 8000 individual plastic modules for the piece itself. 

“I hope that this work of art will be a physical testament to the power of interdisciplinary collaboration,” says Dr. Matthew Levy. As Arts Administration Chair at Behrend, Dr. Levy has been involved with the project from the start and sees it as an opportunity to create academic partnerships that otherwise would have never existed.

Herzak-Bauman is an artist born and raised in Ohio where she currently creates sculptures, installations, and public art that explore relationships between memory, nature and loss. She studied ceramics at Bowling Green State University and The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Lauren is known for works such as Common Energy, which is on display at the Cleveland Public Library’s Eastman Reading Garden.

Lauren Herzak-Bauman with Colorwalk. Photo Credit: Dalton Dougherty. Penn State Behrend, 2019.

Colorwalk is one of eight site-specific visual artworks being installed by Campus Arts Initiative across the commonwealth between 2019-2020. It is funded by Penn State University’s Strategic Planning Seed Grant program, which seeks projects that further the university’s goals for impact and engagement.