December 4, 2014, 4:00-5:00pm
Lorado Taft: The Sculptor’s Legacy
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium
600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL

Lorado Taft is known to University of Illinois students and alumni worldwide for creating the revered Alma Mater statue.  Learn about his American art legacy in presentations from experts Robert La France, co-editor of the new book Lorado Taft: The Chicago Years, and Wayne Pitard, Director of the Spurlock Museum.  Dr. La France will highlight Taft’s great American works and the sculptor’s dedication to teaching underserved students of the era, especially women and minorities.  Director Pitard’s discussion will focus on “The Plaster Taft” and the sculptor’s goal to create a museum of the history of sculpture that would have gathered copies of masterpieces from across cultures and centuries into a single location.

A book signing with light refreshments will immediately follow in the lobby.  Free and open to the public.

Robert G. La France is Director of the David Owsley Museum of Art at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and former Curator of Pre-Modern Art at Krannert Art Museum at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Wayne Pitard is Director of the Spurlock Museum and Professor of Hebrew Bible in the Department of Religion.

Co-Sponsored by Spurlock Museum, Krannert Art Museum, and the University of Illinois Press