The 36-foot-tall statue, “Endless,” which stood outside the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art for nearly three years on the University’s campus, was found broken on the ground in two pieces late in the afternoon on Dec. 10.
“Endless” was created in 2023 and installed in November of the same year for permanent display in front of the museum. Created by contemporary sculptor Jaume Plensa, the stainless steel sculpture was created specifically for the museum with a donation by Charles Hayes ’65 “in honor of museum council and staff, past and present.” Hayes also donated the funds for the adjoining sculpture garden to the museum, named the Hayes Sculpture Park.
The statue is composed of a series of letters from various alphabets, including Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, Greek, Hindi, Japanese and Latin. According to the artist’s website, the letters denote language and humanity without the use of a human figure. The artist says it was inspired by Notre Dame’s mission to be “a powerful force for good in the world.”
Plensa is a Catalan artist known for creating sculptures in both the United States and abroad. One of his most famous regional works is the Crown Fountain in Millennium Park in Chicago, which he unveiled in 2004.
Joseph Becherer, the director and curator of the Raclin Murphy Museum, said he is unsure of what caused the sculpture to fall.
“We don’t know what happened. The top part of the sculpture fell. Thankfully, no one was hurt in any way, shape or form,” he said.
He also noted that there was only very minor damage to the concrete around the sculpture, and no other damage to the area surrounding it. He said there was “no outside force” they were able to find that caused the sculpture to collapse.
“We have a lot of studying to do to understand ‘why?’ That’s just a big question mark for us right now,” he stated. “What we did think was important was to make sure everything was safe, so we dismantled the rest of the sculpture that evening and we’re trying to determine what the next steps will be.”
According to Becherer, the statue was removed on the day it was found broken with the help of the Office of the University Architect and museum staff. It is being held at an undisclosed location until further notice.
Becherer and museum officials are currently working to decide what will happen to the sculpture. There will not be a temporary replacement in the statue’s place since the base of the statue is still intact in the ground.
He shared that the sculpture’s collapse came as a surprise, since the museum regularly maintains all outdoor sculptures and inspects them annually.
