By Dianne Frances D. Powell
A Terre Haute public art project has brought a fresh challenge to a talented artist and hands-on experience for Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) art students this winter.
SMWC has sponsored a larger than life fiberglass Coca-Cola bottle sculpture in support of a community effort to promote Terre Haute as the birthplace of the Coca-Cola bottle design.
Painting the 6-foot-tall, 65-pound sculpture in the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods campus has kept artist Jody O’Neil, SP, a 1973 graduate of SMWC and a Sister of Providence, busy in the last few weeks. “I’m an experienced painter but I’ve never worked on anything quite like this,” O’Neil said.
O’Neil, who normally works in the Roethele Art Studio on campus, specializes in acrylic media and oil. Her interests include drawing, fiber arts, photography, sculpture, leaded glass design, watercolor and watermedia collage. She has earned degrees in art from SMWC and religious studies from Mundelein College in Chicago. This is the first public art project for her and she described the process as both challenging and exciting.
Daily commitment to the project — and a bit of help from two SMWC students and another alumna — has transformed an undecorated sculpture into a vibrant work of art featuring images depicting academic, social and athletic life at SMWC, its faith, campus buildings, the College Ring and SMWC’s famous tagline, “Aspire Higher.” It also features a quote from SMWC’s foundress, Saint Mother Theodore Guerin.
Tree shapes and roots surround the images, a nod to SMWC’s historic, wooded campus which has earned it the nickname, “The Woods.” It is a unifying theme in the design, O’Neil said.
But one special feature was an idea by a student, Jordyn Lloyd. The senior from Grand Forks, North Dakota was among a group of students from SMWC’s Department of Art and Design who met with O’Neil just before Christmas break to learn about the project.
During the encounter, Lloyd suggested incorporating acorns and oak trees to the design. The acorn and oak tree have become important symbols at SMWC; the transformation of an acorn to an oak tree represents the growth students experience during their time at the College.
Over Christmas break, Lloyd and fellow student, Bry’Chell Johnson of Chicago, and alumna Bria Hill ’17, worked with O’Neil on the project. They painted the acorns and oak trees, as well as some of the images depicting student life on campus. Johnson said it was only natural for her to help O’Neil, whom she has known since she was 4 or 5-years-old. Johnson credits the artist for sparking and helping her develop her love for art.
“Helping her with the Coke bottle is really fun and kind of cool because to me, it truly reflects my years in the presence of the Sisters of Providence, and my growth at the College,” Johnson said. “I am an English major with a serious passion for art but not a huge background in it. Sr. Jody welcomed me to help as if she were expecting it.”
The Coca-Cola Bottle Sculptures public art project is a branding campaign aiming to support tourism, promote economic development and instill a sense of community pride, according to a Tribune-Star report.
Teresa Exline, a volunteer of the branding initiative, has been quoted by the newspaper saying the “public-art project is part of a larger effort to make people aware of the city’s connection to the bottle, which has been described as the most-recognized product package in the world.”
The Coca-Cola bottle’s iconic contour design was created by the Terre Haute-based Root Glass Company in 1915. The art project is being led by a local volunteer committee spearheaded by the Vigo County Historical Society and Museum.
SMWC’s painted Coca-Cola bottle sculpture and 26 other bottles, each sponsored by businesses and organizations in Terre Haute, will be put on display at a forthcoming event. Then, they will be on display permanently at a location identified by the sponsors, said Susan Tingley, development director at the museum.