IN PHOTOS: Tour some of CSULB’s on-campus art installations

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Long Beach State students haven’t set foot on campus since last spring semester, and for some, they haven’t at all. For all the students who have yet to explore the campus, there are art installations all over that tell a little bit more about CSULB.

As you go through the 322 acre campus of Long Beach State, you’ll find over 20 art pieces, including some that have historical backgrounds.

On top of the art seen throughout campus, the Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum is undergoing renovation and expansion, which will allow it to home more art. The museum will include three exhibition galleries, reading and archives room, works on paper study room, an education room, expanded collection storage, updated workspaces and a renewed exterior, according to Amanda Fruta, public affairs and communications specialist of the Kleefeld Contemporary.

The Carlson Bloc/Tower which sits 65 feet above the CSULB campus was created between 1965 and 1972 by Andre Bloc. The Carlson/Bloc Tower is a sculpture made of poured concrete. It was part of the 1965 California Sculpture Symposium, which gathered internationally renowned sculptors to create new works in collaboration with industrial partners, according to Fruta.

This sculpture was part of the 1965 California International Sculpture symposium created by Piotr Kowalski. “Now,” as Kowalski called it, is a sculpture that is stainless steel and was bent into three triangular curved sections due to underwater dynamite explosions, according to Fruta. Kowalski intended for visitors to connect with the sun’s light, Fruta said, and be aware of our place in the universe through its movement through the sculpture.

This 20-foot steel shipping container is called “sm[ART]box,” and will remain on campus until 2022. Fruta said that this project by TBM Designs showcases new self-cooling technology and sparks people’s curiosity. The inventor, Doris Sung, designed the kinetic InVert Self-Shading Window System. And the vibrant exterior walls were designed by Yaloo Ji Yeon Lim, a South Korean contemporary digital artist, according to Fruta. “Sm[ART]box” is meant to create conversations about a sustainable future.

The sculpture “Daedalus and Icarus” was installed in the spring of 1966 and displays a rising and falling figure, symbolizing the aspirations of engineers to invent as well as show the potential they have for creating devices of destructive force, Fruta said. Glen Miller designed this sculpture which is placed on the west stairwell wall of Engineering 2. “Daedalus and Icarus” is made out of plasticine, a composition of oil-based clay, that was then made into a plaster mold infused with fiberglass, Fruta said.

The “Homage to Sam Rodia” sculpture was created by J.J. Beljon in 1965. The sculpture is located near the intersection of Seventh Street and East Campus Drive. This landmark was placed in its location with the idea to function as a “curtain” to the parking lot.

This mysterious sculpture that appears to look like a bike is an old farm equipment similar to a tractor. According to Fruta, nobody knows when or why this was placed on campus, other than that it may be related to the fact that the land next to CSULB used to be a dairy farm.

This article was updated on Feb. 26 at 3:17 p.m. to include a link to a map of art installations at CSULB, information about what the Carlson/Bloc Tower is made out of and corrected a previous mistake about sm[ART]box.