Those of us who can’t pass up a chance to be seen with the Great Emancipator have another, easily accessible opportunity on the University of Illinois campus just off—where else?—Lincoln Avenue.
Just in time for Homecoming, a life-sized sculpture of Abraham Lincoln is seated comfortably on a bench in front of the Alice Campbell Alumni Center, 601 S. Lincoln Ave., Urbana, home of the University of Illinois Alumni Association. The sculpture is a gift to the Alumni Association by LAS alumna Gail Kellogg (BS ’65, mathematics).
The 16th president is portrayed as resting with notes from the last paragraph of his 1865 second inaugural address, etched in bronze and in his handwriting, that begins: “With malice toward none; with charity for all.” He leaves plenty of room on the bench for visitors.
The bronze and ironwork “Lincoln” was created by Mark Lundeen, of Colorado, and obtained by Kellogg, a former member of the Alumni Association’s Board of Directors. The resident of Steamboat Springs, Colo., and Chicago says she had originally given the sculpture to U of I in her will.
“When I came to campus last fall and saw [the newly renovated] Lincoln Hall, I thought: What are you waiting for?” she says.
Kellogg is a retired partner with and consultant to Hewitt Associates, a global resources consulting and outsourcing firm. She has strongly supported math and science scholarships and other activities in the College of LAS in the past.
“The Alice Campbell Alumni Center is a place where all alumni can come back to the University and feel welcome and at home,” says Alumni Association President and CEO Loren R. Taylor. “Gail’s generosity adds an appropriate presence that will only enhance the loyalty and pride alumni have for the university—and that future alumni will have.”
Kellogg hopes people greet the sculpture actively.
“[The sculpture] is very human and approachable, so I hope it will pique people’s interest in Abraham Lincoln, his writings, and all he said and did,” Kellogg adds. “I also hope people find it wonderful and fun. I hope they sit on the bench with him, take pictures with their kids, and enjoy interacting with it.”
This is not the first sculpture on the campus by a member of the Lundeen family. The large bronze statue of Illini football great, Harold “Red” Grange, on the west side of Memorial Stadium was created by Mark’s brother, George, a 1973 Illinois graduate in art and design.
