The Satterlee, Northrop and Mote Family Tiger Sculpture embodies the pride and loyalty of DePauw students and alumni. It will be dedicated this Saturday, October 10 2015 at 1 p.m. during Old Gold festivities.
It is dedicated to the memory of Florence Northrop Mote ’50--the wife of John and mother of Tom and his sister, Susan—and to all the other members of the Satterlee, Northrop, Mote, Lee, Stewart, Cates, Moulton, Utter, Russell, and Pogue families who have attended DePauw.
The tiger sculpture was gifted to the University by John Mote ‘50, Dr. Tom Mote ‘74, Eleanor Northrop Hall ’61, Alan Satterlee, Susan Mote Rosenbluth, Donald Cates ’86, and Joe ’71 and Lynne (Utter ‘71) Northrop.
The idea for this project developed 11 years ago when Tom Mote was receiving his Masters of Public Health degree in Boston. Mote discovered artist Robert Shure’s bronze leopard which was showcased down the street representing the mascot of the Wentworth Institute of Technology.
Robert Shure is the president of Skylight Studios, Inc. and Giust Gallery, Caprioni Collection. Shure is the creator of many significant public and private monuments and sculptures and has over 30 years of experience in site-specific sculpture commissions from design to installation.
In 1995, he received the Federal Design Achievement Award for his heroic-sized sculpture relief of George Washington in the Washington Monument. He received the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the New York Institute of Technology and the M.F.A. degree from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts & Tufts University.
Four years ago Mote pitched his idea to Skylight Studios, and Shure gave him an estimate cost of $50,000 dollars. However, during this time DePauw was going through many transformations and adjustments including a new president, athletic director, and arts curator plus plans to upgrade the athletic complex.
“As a result, the project got re-examined including the possibility of a new artist and placing it at the Lilly Center or in the middle of the new cul-de-sac by Reevis Field,” said donor, Dr. Thomas R. Mote ’74.
This past December a new design by Shure was approved for the patio near the football field but approximately twice the original size and more expensive.
“My son Jackson [Mote ‘16] and I visited Mr Shure's historic studio in Boston to see the full size clay mock up this March,” said Mote.
After the design was completed the mold was sent to Utah where the best bronze casting bid was, then crated and trucked to DePauw two weeks ago. On Wednesday, the installation of the Tiger was completed.
Since then several students and faculty have been talking about their first impressions.
First year Megan Ozog thinks the large size of the sculpture is very intimidating. “It’s fierce,” she said.
The sculpture is approximately one and a half times larger than an average tiger and stands between Reavis Field and Blackstock stadium directly behind the circle drive. This location is an extremely busy part of the athletics campus and its size draws immediate attention.
“It will draw more individuals off our main campus and to the athletics campus,” said Athletic Director Stevie Baker-Watson. “Sometimes folks forget that we have a lot of activity going on West of Jackson Street.”
Baker-Watson has been working with the Mote family since the project began. In her first years as Athletic Director, she embarked on rebranding the DePauw logo. Thus, creating the iconic tiger face now visible everywhere on campus as well as the ‘D’ logo.
“This bronze statue is an extension of that, another visual representation of pride, of who we are and identity of who we are of students and student athletes on campus,” said Baker-Watson.
First-year and member of the Women’s soccer team Bekah Crone agrees with Baker-Watson.
“I think people will respect the tiger sculpture because it is a symbol of Tiger pride,” said Crone.
However, many students have expressed excitement about the new sculpture but are worried it could be vandalized.
“Come Monon, with the game being home this year, I wonder if the Wabash ‘W’ will end up on it,” said Senior Stephanie Martin.
The sculpture dedication on Saturday will be one of many special events occurring on Old Gold Weekend. Baker-Watson is hopeful that the presence of the sculpture will encourage students who aren’t involved in intercollegiate sports or intramurals to visit the athletic campus.
Baker-Watson is hopeful that it will also offer inspiration for all athletes. Mote is also excited to see who will be inspired by the sculpture.
“Our hope is that the football players might touch the sculpture before games for good luck and it might inspire someone to give another tiger sculpture for the Lilly Gym lobby,” said Mote.