Kwant鈥檚 art will illustrate the transitional space by etching pairs of words from different disciplines into the glass of the skyway. Think: define divinity, probe force, radiate support, love density. When Lestrud, an English major who did graduate work in linguistics and considers word play a part of her life, first saw the proposal, she thought, 鈥淔antastic! But then I started puzzling over the pairs that didn鈥檛 make sense鈥攁nd thought aha! She got me! She made me ponder,鈥� says Lestrud. 鈥淚 hope students will react the same way, with their curiosity piqued as they stroll through. I wonder if they will write about their experiences, walking through this walkway of words.鈥�

Words on the skyway windows will also make the glass visible to birds, so they don鈥檛 鈥渟mack themselves silly on the glass. I thought this was a brilliant solution to a real concern, and a very thought-provoking piece as well,鈥� she adds.

Lestrud lauds the selection process, too. A resident of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, she volunteers for and supports various art groups, including those charged with choosing art for public spaces. 鈥淚t鈥檚 such an interesting process, because you have people who know nothing about art but 鈥榢now what they like.鈥� It鈥檚 hard to set up guidelines when you hear commentary like that,鈥� she points out. 鈥淢any people want to go for something very representational, very safe, and in many cases, very uninteresting. But that didn鈥檛 happen on this committee.鈥�

She served on Augsburg鈥檚 Art and Identity committee, which began discussing art when the Hagfors Center was 鈥渟till a dream on paper,鈥� working with architects to identify where artwork should go, what size it should be, and how it should be lit. 鈥淣inety-nine percent of the time, people wait until the structure is inhabited before they start embellishing it,鈥� she explains. 鈥淲e seem to have an innate yearning to embellish our surroundings. The earliest people did cave drawings. The Victorians had every surface covered with doodads. So we鈥檙e following a very natural impulse, and I think it鈥檚 wonderful that Augsburg made the commitment to do this in a well-thought-out and big way.鈥�

Once locations were selected and artist proposals solicited, committee members met with artists individually to field questions and fuel the creative mission through a deeper understanding of the building in particular and Augsburg in general. 鈥淭hat was also interesting and not always something that happens in the broader world,鈥� Lestrud says. She was delighted to chat with Kwant, a public artist, director of RSP Dreambox, and frequent lecturer on experience design, environments, and communications for the U. of Minnesota School of Design and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Kwant will also create one-of-a-kind glassed-topped tables that are available for sponsorship.

Lestrud contrasts the Hagfors Center with the boxy, cement block structure of the old science hall. 鈥淲hen you walked in, all you wanted to do was get out again,鈥� she remembers. 鈥淭he art going into this new building will make it the kind of place that will inspire students, give them a mental break, and, I believe, encourage them to linger.鈥�

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“From the moment I heard that a chapel would be included in the聽Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion,聽I wanted to design a piece of art for it,” said artist Bebe Keith. Her large 3-D glass sculpture will become a featured element of the building鈥檚 roof top chapel thanks to the sponsorship investment by聽Jeff Nodland 鈥�77 and Becky Bjella Nodland 鈥�79.

“One of the things that drew my attention to this opportunity is that Augsburg is recognized as聽the fourth most diverse and inclusive campus in the United States. The idea that people of all faiths and backgrounds will use the chapel space interested me while also presenting a challenge to me as an artist.”

聽has been creating art professionally for about 12 years, mostly in the public art realm. “I usually create stained glass mosaics by hand for public spaces, primarily in health care. “When I got the Art and Identity committee鈥檚 call for artists I wanted to do something distinctive.”

Drawing on聽inspiration聽from scripture, her original design was all about diversity, connections and networks between people.

“When I presented my first 2-D design to the Art and Identity Committee, they really latched on to the idea but wondered if it could actually be produced in three dimensions, so I figured out a way to make that happen.鈥�

She found a computer program that helped her illuminate what was in her mind鈥檚 eye. It worked. The design addresses the networking of the three disciplines of science, business, and religion was at the origin of her idea.

鈥淚 started with the idea of networks鈥攄ots with lines connecting with other dots with lines which connect to others and so on. The negative space is all triangles. So the idea of people as networks becomes forms.鈥�

As Keith puts it, 鈥淎cceptance is the most important value to me. I love to imagine people coming together in harmony and peace. Acceptance is the ideal. I want to promote places and spaces where people come together and listen to one another. This chapel is a place for sharing ideas and taking them along with them into the world. It will be a quiet place and those ideas are all there for the visitor.”

The piece consists of 43 glass panels that will be in聽different聽patterns and colors. Each panel is drawn from a different tapestry of cultures and religions and references聽1 Corinthians 14:26 鈥� 鈥淲hen you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.鈥�

鈥淚 found the patterns in books and drew聽from what people are wearing in聽different countries. Some patterns are from ancient places, while some are from newer countries such as Somalia.”

Six of the panels will be unpatterned to suggest the future of Augsburg yet to unfold. All of panels will also include some smudges, blurring and distress to suggest imperfection of the world past and present. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not all tidy, but it makes us who we are,鈥� she said.

It will hang in the space so that from one particular angle viewers be able to see a cross. From all other points in the room it will look like聽a tapestry, a quilt, an abstracted shape, an unfolded origami.

Jeff Nodland 鈥�77 and Becky Bjella Nodland 鈥�79 share Bebe’s passion for the celebration of an inclusive faith and the ideas of welcoming the聽stranger as core aspects of what it means to be an Auggie. While serving as a member of the Augsburg Board of Regents, and now taking on the聽leadership of the board, Jeff participated in the decisions to proceed with the construction of the Hagfors Center. He and Becky were intrigued聽by the inclusion of the chapel as a visible expression of the ideals of a lived Lutheran faith.

鈥淏ecky and I see this piece of sculpture as a beautiful expression of what it means to live as faithful servants and relevant leaders. We support the essence of what it means to be a Lutheran institution of higher learning and to lead with a global perspective. Bebe’s piece embodies those ideals for us,鈥� said Jeff.

The glass and metal framework will be fabricated in Germany based on Keith’s design.聽The sculpture will be installed in the chapel and open for visiting in January of 2018.

鈥� Cathy Madison

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In fact, after a few decades away, McNevin plans to return to her Augsburg home soon to take advantage of reduced tuition for alumni. She needs only a few more art classes to complete a second major in studio art, with a focus on painting and photography. 鈥淟ast year I picked up a paintbrush, which is something I haven鈥檛 done in 30 years. It was very different, almost foreign to me.鈥�

McNevin鈥檚 initial Augsburg journey was a long but fruitful one. She planned to double major in English and art, but health reasons forced a hiatus in the middle of her junior year, creating what she calls 鈥渕y eight-and-a-half-year plan.鈥� She completed her degree in English in what was then called the Weekend College (now Adult Undergraduate) program.

While she was earning her degree, McNevin worked in Augsburg鈥檚 college relations office, where writing projects put that major to good use, and the magazine, Augsburg Now, published her photographs. She enjoyed other benefits, too, such as a biplane ride donated by alumni who owned a farm in Farmington. Even then, with money tight, she found a way to donate $25 for one key in the Foss Center organ.

鈥淭he gifts I received from Augsburg were many,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 even know my name would be on a plaque, but I saw it when I returned for a special event. No matter the amount, leaving some sort of legacy is a way to live on, especially if you don鈥檛 have children.鈥�

Though her career path did not follow traditional routes for English or art majors, 鈥渕y Augsburg degree got me through the door in more places than one, and I鈥檓 using my education in ways that I never imagined,鈥� McNevin adds. As an officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, she relies on traditional journalism skills to ask pertinent questions during interviews, and on research skills to learn the constitutional law she must understand to make good decisions.

She hopes that recipients of her scholarship will pursue careers in English and/or art as well as related community or volunteer work. 鈥淚 would like them to not only be doing something in the field while they鈥檙e going to school, but also have a solid plan about what they want to do in the future,鈥� says McNevin, whose volunteer work has included teaching English as a second language in GED programs.

No doubt she will also want them to love Augsburg, just as she admires the many changes that have occurred since she first arrived. She applauds the leadership and direction of recent presidents, the addition of a masters program and nursing doctorate, and the plans for the new Center for Science, Business, and Religion, to which she has also donated.

鈥淚 really don鈥檛 have very much money, but I wanted to give something back to the college. What it was I didn鈥檛 know, but then life changed and this scholarship idea came up,鈥� she says. 鈥淎ugsburg鈥檚 motto when I was there was 鈥榯hrough truth to freedom.鈥� I have spent my life searching for truth, and Augsburg provided that background for me. I ended up in my occupation in response to that search.鈥�

As for that feeling of being at home, she says it is hard to describe. Certainly the fellow students, the faculty, the staff, and the physical campus have something to do with it, as does the solid foundation based in the Lutheran faith. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just a spiritual feeling, I guess, a feeling that Augsburg is a safe place to grow鈥攊n more ways than one.鈥�

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