By Paula Pyzik Scott
ADA __ On Tuesday, October 22, four sculptures by former ONU art professor and current Bluffton resident Judith Greavu were dedicated in a new installation at a pond near Dial-Roberson Stadium.
The ceremony and a presentation by Greavu provided the backstory for the bronze castings inspired by plant and animal life in a pond that Greavu had built at a former residence near Dola.
The event was attended by family and friends, as well as by past and present University faculty, staff and students. Greavu made a special thank you to the ONU employees who installed the heavy limestone platforms for the sculptures. The sculptures are a gift from Greavu, who feels they needed a home near water and that “they will be happy here.”
Cattails, mussels, fish and muskrats are depicted above and below a pond’s surface. The sculptures are placed along the edge of the ONU pond, with reeds and tall grasses, the pond surface and flying birds serving as a backdrop.
Greavu explained that the Dola pond construction was a gift from her mother. She detailed how ONU Biology professor Terry Kaiser guided her in the stocking of the pond, including mussels to clean the water. A slide show presentation at the Wilson Art Building illustrated a history of the pond, including Greavu weeding the banks and swimming in a wetsuit as late as November.
She emphasized that pondlife came to include invited and uninvited guests. For some time, muskrats were trapped and killed. Eventually, she accepted their presence, knowing that they may ultimately destroy the banks of the pond with their tunnels. The catfish became friendly and would even rub the legs of swimmers.
The discussion revealed that the artist grew up in places near rivers, lakes and the ocean, instilling a lifelong love for the water. Greavu’s work is artistic, but her interests include the environment impact of humans on the world’s water supply and on other species.
The pond sculptures were made using a lost wax bronze casting technique. The artist told her audience that as a female student in a sculpture class, she was excluded from participating in pouring molten metal. While she did not challenge the policy, she went on to create her own home foundry and the technique has been central to her career.
Many of Greavu’s sculptures are exhibited as large-scale outdoor installations and also feature elements of fused glass. Current Forces is a celebration of the Ottawa River installed at the University of Toledo in 2013. The bronze and fused glass work is 1,000 pounds, 15 feet long, 5 feet wide and 10 feet tall. Greavu was selected from some 20 artists for the project, which was funded by the Ohio Percent for Art Program.
For a glimpse of the artist at work and at home, see an interview with Eddie Arruza issued in 2024 at https://youtu.be/oPJeEsGz5gA?si=nVATuvX3T6R5dA5M.
About the artist
Judith Greavu Received a B.S. in art education from Ball State University and an M.F.A. from Bowling Green State University. She taught art at Ohio Northern from 1985-2005. She also taught at Bluffton College.
