About the Park(1)

Director and Curator:

Jeff Stevenson

jstevenson@govst.edu

708-534-4021

Education and Outreach Coordinator:

Sherri Denault

sdenault@govst.edu

708-534-4848

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Write:

Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park
Governors State University
1 University Parkway
University Park, IL 60484-0975

Call:

708.534.4848

Mission

The three pillars of our mission are: Art, Conservation, and Education.

The Park has put the Southland on the map culturally through curating forward-thinking exhibitions.

It is one of the few outdoor sanctuaries in the south suburbs of Chicago where the natural landscape is strikingly beautiful throughout all four seasons. As such, one of our core values is to conserve and expand the natural prairieland. Prairie Restorers join humanist and scholar Bill Dodd in his mission to leave the landscape better than we found it. Donations augment the Bill Dodd Memorial Fund and are allocated towards this conservation ethic.

 The Park also serves as a living laboratory for area school children teaching popular S.T.E.M. (Sience, Technology, Engineering, and Math) principles through the artwork, in our Outdoors@the NATE program. S.T.E.M. becomes STEAM with the infusion of ART. This program opens young minds to new opportunities and ways of thinking through critical thinking, investigation, play and exploration.

We've also recently upgraded our visitor experience with the help of automation app partner Otocast, creating a real-time guide to the park, a map of the entire collection, additional photos and information, and with recorded commentary by many of the artists.

Not all contributions are financial. Docents give of their time to serve our community and students in leading educational tours and themed explorations of the Park.

Vision

The Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park is recognized globally for its collection of large-scale public art. Our museum-in-the-prairie expands the cultural horizons of our visitors with innovative exhibitions, programs, and integrated arts and nature experiences.

Values

Formally established by the Governors State University Board of Trustees in 1978, the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park was named for Nathan Manilow, a visionary developer who, along with Carrol Sweet and Philip Klutznick, formed American Community Builders at the conclusion of World War II. They planned and built the neighboring Village of Park Forest for returning GIs. The history of the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park predates GSU in that sculptor Mark diSuvero spent the summers of 1968 and 1969 living and building sculpture on the land that was to become the university.

1968-69 - Lewis Manilow, son of Nathan Manilow, loans the use of a house on the future campus of GSU to sculptor Mark diSuvero. DiSuvero spends two summers creating sculpture. His presence attracts other artists: John Chamberlain, Richard Hunt, John Henry, Charles Ginnever and Jerry Peart, among others, to the area. DiSuvero creates at least three sculptures: "Yes! for Lady Day," "Prairie Chimes" and "The Mohican."

1969-71 - Governors State University is chartered. The campus is built and occupied.

1971 - Nathan Manilow dies. Lewis Manilow assumes the helm of Manilow business interests. He purchases and donates Mark diSuvero's "Yes! for Lady Day" to GSU.

1976 - "The Sculptor, the Campus, and the Prairie" is presented by "The Governors State University Center for Monumental Sculpture." The groundbreaking exhibition includes work by seven sculptors arrayed across the campus. Bill Engbretson, first president of GSU, retires. Dr. Leo Goodman-Malamuth is installed as president.

1978 - GSU Board of Trustees formally names the growing collection of artworks on campus "The Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park."

1981 - Mary Miss is commissioned by the Park Forest South Cultural Foundation to create "Field Rotation."

1982 - Martin Puryear is commissioned by the Park Forest South Cultural Foundation to create "Bodark Arc."

1983 - Bruce Nauman is commissioned by the Park Forest South Cultural Foundation to create "House Divided."

1992 - President Goodman-Malamuth retires, Paula Wolfe named third president of GSU.

To read a 1996 synopsis of the park's history click here

2000 - President Wolfe resigns.  Dr. Stuart Fagan is installed as  president of GSU. He and his wife, Dr. Ora Simcha-Fagan, begin to work with the director of the State of Illinois Capital Development Board's  Percent for Art program to realize a series of commissions for the park.

2002 - GSU convenes a selection committee which selects three artists from 22 maquettes submitted for consideration to create commissioned works for the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park.

2003 - The park receives "Lanleff Demeure No. 4" by Henri Etienne-Martin as a gift from The Art Institute of Chicago.

2005 - Richard Rezac completes work on "Frame," the first of three works resulting from the Percent for Art Program commissions. Christine Tarkowski installs "Working on the Failed Utopia," another Capital Development Board project.

2006 - Tony Tasset delivers "Paul," the final installation of the 2002 commissions.

2007 - President Fagan retires. Dr. Elaine P. Maimon is named fifth president of GSU. Geoffrey Bates is appointed as the first Director and Curator for the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park. The Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park Advisory Board is constituted and develops and approves bylaws. Dan Peterman is commissioned to create "The Granary Project," an additional CDP Percent for Art project.

2009 - "Horizons," a 12-figure installation by Icelandic sculptor Steinunn Thorarinsdottir, becomes the first "Solo Exhibition Series" presentation.

2010 - The Art Institute of Chicago donates Clement Meadmore's "Spiral," on site since 1984, to the park. "Neil Goodman in the Park" is the second "Solo Exhibition Series" presentation.

2012 - Yvonne Domenge donates "Windwaves" to the park. "Solo Exhibition Series" presentation "Sophie Ryder's 'Upside Down, Kneeling" appears in the park.

2013 - "Illinois Landscape No. 5" by John Henry is painted and conserved.

2014 - "Solo Exhibition Series" presentation "Don't Tread on Me: Sculpture by Chakaia Booker" appears in the park.

2016 - "Flying Saucer" by Jene Highstein is rebuilt, painted and conserved.

2017 - "Bodark Arc" by Martin Puryear has restoration/conservation work on the wooden gate, begun in 2016, completed. Director, Curator Geoffrey Bates retires, Jeff Stevenson is appointed the new Director and Curator of the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park and the Visual Arts Gallery. "Solo Exhibition Series" presentation of "Don't Tread on Me: Sculpture by Chakaia Booker" is extended until Summer 2018.

December 12, 2017 Lewis Manilow dies

2018 - "Untitled (Firenze)", 1962 by Abbott Pattison, donated by Sean Susanin, is installed. The "Butterfly Ranch" prairie restoration (Openlands/ComEd Grant project) project, is begun with mowing and treating the invasive plant species, and seeding native species.

theNate Advisory Board November, 2018

Jeff Stevenson, Director and Curator

Jeff Stevenson has more than 30 years of professional experience in the visual arts as a practicing studio artist, arts writer, college professor, curator and gallery director. As Director and Curator of the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park, he oversees programming, presentation, conservation and acquisition for the park’s collection of 29 large-scale artworks. Stevenson earned a BS in Medical Illustration from The Ohio State University and an MFA in Painting from Ohio University. He has served on boards and committees with the Chicago Artists’ Coalition, Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park, and the Flossmoor Village Art Commission, in his hometown, Flossmoor, Illinois.