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Mammoth

The Natural History Building received a $70 million renovation in 2014. A portion of the renovation funds were designated for public art as part of the Art in Architecture program, which requires that all new building and major remodeling projects requiring Board of Trustees approval devote 0.5% of the construction budget to securing works of art that shall be placed within public areas at the project site.

The sculpture of a mammoth was suggested by then School of Earth, Society, and the Environment director Stephen Marshak and School of Integrative Biology director Fred Delcomyn to reflect both the environmental history of the area and the heritage of the Natural History Building as a home for earth sciences. Paradoxically, at the time of construction the building housed only one geologist who did any work in paleontology.

The sculptor was Shawn Hensley, and the painter was Angela Norman.

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