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The ¼â½ÐÊÓƵ University Art Museum is excited to have a model of the Antikythera Mechanism on loan from the in Athens, Greece. The Antikythera Mechanism, often described as the oldest analogue “computer,” was a device dating to the 2nd BCE used for astronomical calculations, including predicting eclipses. Pieces of the bronze device and its wooden case were first discovered in 1901 off the island of Antikythera, from which it takes its name. The pieces are today in the National Archeological Museum of Athens, and scholars continue to study it today to understand its functions.

¼â½ÐÊÓƵ University Art Museum is the first stop for The Tulip Family by artist Lauren Booth. The sculpture is a play on simplicity and the joy of a childhood drawing, juxtaposed with a humble nod to Henry Moore, Niki de Saint Phalle and Barbara Hepworth, all of whom influenced this sculpture.

Image: Lauren Booth, The Tulip Family, 2017-2023, bronze. On loan from the artist

The leaves installed on the Bellarmine lawn are on loan to the ¼â½ÐÊÓƵ University Art Museum for the next year from the American artist Alan Sonfist (b. 1946), best known as a pioneer of the Land or Earth Art movement. These four larger-than-life aluminum sculptures of leaves were created in 2011 and represent several of New England’s most beloved native trees: the American Beech, the American Chestnut, the Burr Oak, and the Sugar Maple. The sculpted leaves act as reminders to honor and protect the trees, and as a warning that failure to do so could result in their extinction.

The museum is working with the Biology Department, the Environmental Studies Program and the artist, around a series of programs to be presented in the spring of 2022 to highlight these sculptures, along with climate change and endangered species.