Rowan University’s campus features many different colorful and unique art pieces. On campus, you can take a public art tour of all of these pieces to learn more about the origins of each piece of artwork.

Mary Salvante is the director and chief curator of the Rowan University Art Gallery and Museum. Salvante has been at Rowan for 15 years and has been giving the public art tour on campus for about six years. The tour features three different types of art pieces.

Some of the art on the tour includes different types of memorials and monuments. These were selected through different student and alumni associations that selected which pieces they wanted to add to campus. The tour also featured many different pieces that were donated to the university.

Among the art pieces on campus is the Glassboro Kaleidoscope. Built in 2005, this piece is located outside of James Hall. It is unique because it is constructed as a part of the building itself. This is a piece that is elevated above the entranceway.

“The glass is infused with minerals, and when the light hits it a certain way at a certain time of day the color shifts and changes. What the artist is trying to convey is thinking about the activity that goes inside James Hall,” Salvante said.

James Hall is where the public art tour tends to start and features multiple different pieces. Alongside the Glassboro Kaleidoscope are the Knowledge is Power Mural and the Test of Time Mural which are located at the crossroads outside of the Robinson Green.

In 2015, Endeavor was created at Rowan University. Endeavor includes a beautiful walkway to the piece and a story that goes along with it.

“The piece is to celebrate a sailing trip done by Dr. Martin Kramer without any navigation which was a pretty remarkable undertaking when you think about everything he had to endure. It was a 500-day self-navigating trip to celebrate his achievement the department of geography, planning, and sustainability worked together to have this piece installed,” Salvante said.

The Return to Grover’s Mill is a piece installed on campus in the year 1994. This is a piece that was inspired by H.G Wells’s “War of The Worlds” and Orson Welles’s 1938 radio broadcast that caused major panic by simulating an alien invasion. This art has many different features to commemorate this as it includes triangular elements used to mimic tripod aliens. This piece lights up the night sky with the small lights on the outside. 

Rowan University’s campus has over 30 unique art installations and taking the tour allows students to learn about the story behind each piece.  

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