Andrew Spaan ’25, staff writer
Where the Cuwe-Pehelle statue currently stands near Neidig-Garber and Bishop Library, there once was a piece of abstract architecture aptly nicknamed “the bike rack.”
However, former LVC President John Synodino had a keen interest in adding more works of art to a campus that had an otherwise disjointed visual aesthetic. Multiple buildings on campus were built in different decades and the architectural styles from those periods would collide with each other, creating a lack of visual unity.
Synodino insisted that upgrading the visual aesthetic of the campus would attract new students and help enrich those who were already there.
“It was a part of LVC president John Synodinos’s interest in adding works of art to the public areas of the campus,” Dan Massad, artist-in-residence emeritus, said.
However, with any large-scale artwork, it requires funding. Dr. Edna and Dr. Clarke Carmean commissioned the statue as a gift for the College. Edna and Clarke Carmean were long-time supporters of LVC with Clarke serving as the instructor of music education, dean of men and as the director of admissions during his tenure at LVC.
Even in the couple’s later years, they could be found in the admissions office writing encouraging notes to prospective students. Edna would pass away in 2001 and Clarke would follow in 2005 at the age of 101.
The Carmeans chose the New York artist, Aubrey Flack, to make the sculpture. Flack, who has a reputation for creating large goddess figures, was introduced to LVC when her work was shown at an art gallery on campus.
Flack created a 7’2” cast bronze sculpture of a Native American woman with outstretched arms. She named the piece Cuwe-Pehelle, which is another form of the Native American word “Quittaphilla” which conveys the idea of a stream that flows among the pines.
The statue is meant to represent the welcoming spirit of LVC and the agricultural focus of the surrounding region.
At the dedication ceremony in 1997, the plaza surrounding the statue was renamed for the Carmeans. Today, the Cuwe-Pehelle statue still stands outside of the Bishop Library and serves as a reminder of LVC’s commitment to embodying a welcoming spirit.