Winter - Map and Pause Location Details

Part of the richness of the Strolls for Well-being at ISU is the intentional selection of the pause locations for Winter. Locations were selected to include various natural settings and the amazing art that is part of the ISU campus. The following map includes the specific locations along with the history and/or information about the art that you will find at the pause. Download the map and history.

Now pick a stroll, or a pause, that you would like to explore. Check the history and find it on the map as you set out to enjoy a simple mindfulness practice. 


PAUSE 1: Traditions

Location: Memorial Union, north entrance.

Gold Star Hall’s stained-glass windows illustrate the primary virtues an ISU student should strive to have: learning, virility, courage, patriotism, justice, faith, determination, love, obedience, loyalty, integrity and tolerance. In 1942, alumnus and World War I veteran Harold Cummings was commissioned as the designer for the project which was installed in 1943. The windows are a lesser-known tradition at ISU, which can be seen as the 12 pillars of what it takes to be a true Iowa Stater.

“The first impression is that they are very churchy, but each is a symbol for something,” Kathy Svec, former marketing coordinator at the Memorial Union said. “They are the story of Iowa State.” And all who aspire to be a true Iowa Stater.


PAUSE 2: Stillness

Location: Union Drive, between Friley Hall and the Memorial Union.

Lake LaVerne was created in 1916 and was funded by LaVerne W. Noyes, a member of the first graduating class of 1872. Noyes made a $10,000 donation with the intention of making his alma mater more beautiful. Lake LaVerne is also home to the swans, Lancelot and Elaine, who were originally added to the lake in Veishea week of 1935. Legend says that if one walks with their love, in silence, three times around the lake, then they are truly destined to be together.


PAUSE 3: Air Spiral

Location: Outside the Student Services Building.

Becoming the “best” was Iowa State’s slogan at the turn of the 21st century. Tucked away among the trees near the Student Services Building is a visual reminder of this mission. Installed in 2002, Air Spiral, with its sturdy base and twisting forms, suggests a fervent upward spiral to success and can also be thought of as funneling downward. The quote on the spiral, from the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, can be enlightening: “Nothing ever is, everything is becoming.”

“It sets up an impossibility and then counters it with a positive assertion,” the artist Fiene said. “This quote will offer direction and reassurance about the process of personal and intellectual growth.” Though life is uncertain, we are reminded that the world keeps spinning.


PAUSE 4: Hidden Gems

Location: Inside and outside of Morrill Hall.

The Hidden Gems of the Sculpture Garden by Louise Jones (pictured top) is a collaboration between artist and educator that was completed in 2021. The mural was developed through conversations with horticulturalists, curators, and art and plant lovers. The work displays the plantings in the Anderson Sculpture Garden so their beauty can still be appreciated when they aren’t in bloom.

A Cultivated Beauty by Louise Jones (pictured bottom) is a bouquet composed of pink peonies, a Buck rose from the Anderson Sculpture Garden, a Black-eyed Susan and Prairie Rose (two classic prairie wildflowers) and a Regal Fritillary butterfly. ISU’s campus is a lush, colorful display of native and garden varieties of every plant and flower imaginable, including but not limited to, the ones selected for this bouquet.


PAUSE 5: Balance of Life

Location: Inside Kildee Hall.

Balance of Life was commissioned courtesy of the Art in State Buildings program in 1998 and is in Kildee Hall, home to the university's renowned Department of Animal Science. The spectacular mosaic greets visitors as soon as they enter the building, and depicts cattle, pigs and poultry in various stages of development.

Scenes showing students and faculty interacting with these animals are "decorated" with images of ordinarily microscopic chromosomes. According to ISU University Museums, "Smyth intended this mosaic to document the work of animal science on the walls of the Animal Science Building in the same way that primitive man drew images of hunting and rituals on cave walls."


PAUSE 6: All the Way Home

Location: Inside Curtiss Hall.

Installed in 2013, All the Way Home is by artist Julie Chang, who has a tendency to use patterns to disrupt the way people normally see. Located on the floor in Curtiss Hall, it is not at first obvious to students walking across it. But if you go to higher floors in the building and look down, it encompasses the vibrancy and beauty of nature’s movement, suggesting the growing cycles and technological advancements of agriculture. It is a bright and simplified, yet thought-provoking, look at how agriculture shapes us and how we, in turn, shape it.

People often think of art on campus as large sculptures, but much at ISU is integrated into buildings on walls and floors. As you walk around campus, be sure to look up and down and check out the walls, for amazing art can be found in all places around campus.