Woodland Counterpoint

The image above named Woodland Counterpoint, is a 14-foot-long, 25-inch-high bronze wall relief designed and cast by Robert J. Gehrke — it hangs in the Willow Lounge, between the doors of the Council Fire Room, on Davies Center’s upper level. It occupies a site that was once the meeting grounds of the Sioux and Ojibwa tribes, and incorporates five Woodland Indian designs with species of woodland trees native to Wisconsin. Commissioned under the auspices of the Wisconsin Arts Board’s Percent for Art Program, the sculpture was installed in December 1984 and dedicated on February 26, 1985.

The relief is made up of nine separately cast sections, which alternate intricately textured forest images with geometric designs selected from works by the major tribes of Wisconsin — Menominee, Potawatomi, Winnebago/Ho Chunk, Ojibwa/Chippewa, and Oneida. The highly polished tribal designs border four large sculptural collages of leaves and bark, and echo many of the natural patterns found in the larger panels.

Gehrke said that the relief “exhibits a spirituality that is accessible to anyone. You don’t have to be privy to any specific knowledge to tap into those geometric designs and the shape of the forest.” He attributes the success of Woodland Counterpoint to the character and richness of the tribal designs.

The artist was selected unanimously from a field of 75 applicants in the open competition for the commission. The selection committee, advisory to Percent for Art Program coordinator Regina Flanagan, was made up of Johannes Dahle, director of University Centers; Charles Campbell, chair of the department of art; George Hagale, professor of sculpture; Robert Leverich, an architect with Ayres Associates; and art professional Ruth Friedman.

Gehrke was chosen on the basis of the durability of the materials he planned to use and the concept of his proposal. The committee particularly wanted a work that would emphasize a Native American theme; Gehrke’s proposal incorporated Woodland tribal designs with indigenous trees after which many rooms in Davies Center are named.

A preliminary study for Woodland Counterpoint — an oak-framed bronze relief contrasting a Winnebago design with impressions of white oak leaves and bark — hangs in the Willow Lounge in Davies Center.

Gehrke began producing each panel by constructing a pattern — a three-dimensional model built of wax, clay and wood — using impressions of leaves and other natural materials. He estimates that each of the four large panels required more than 500 hours of pattern work.

Silica sand, mulled together with resin, was packed around the finished pattern; after a rigid shell had formed, Gehrke removed the pattern and reassembled the sand mold. Each large pattern required a complex seven-piece mold weighing more than 750 pounds. Molten manganese bronze was poured into the sand mold; when it cooled, the casting was shaken loose and cut away from the gating. The processes of grinding, machining, cleaning, buffing and coloring followed.

Gehrke constructed the patterns and molds in his Eau Claire shop. He cast much of the 850-pound sculpture in the UW-Eau Claire Fine Arts Center.

Robert Gehrke received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from UW-Eau Claire in 1973 and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1975. His other sculpture commissions include Symmetry (2003) at the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind in Faribault; Trace (2001) at the Minnesota Department of Revenue in Ely; Cascade Leaf (1999) at Central Oregon Community College in Bend, Ore.; Balance Wheel (1998) at the State Agriculture Building in Madison, Wis.; Woodland Spire (1997), at the University of Wisconsin-Stout at Menomonie; Flight Column (1996) at the University of Montana at Missoula; and Flyway (1993) at Winona State University.