New Sparty statue debuting this fall
EAST LANSING - A new bronze monument to Michigan State University's Sparty mascot is scheduled to debut inside the MSU Union in time for homecoming this fall.
Perched on a bench with his muscular arms extend out welcomingly, the new Sparty will be accompanied by a display highlighting the MSU mascot's evolution, said Tami Kuhn, MSU Union manager.
The new installation will also include a full list of donors who contributed toward the $150,000 project as well as an explanation of Oregon-based sculptor Alison Brown's design process. Sparty will have room on either side of him for people to pose with and will be cast in bronze and adorned with classic MSU green and white, Brown said. Money raised will go toward the statue and accompanying displays as well as maintenance costs. A small portion will also be awarded to the Sparty Mascot program, Kuhn said.
Close to $60,000 dollars has been raised for the project so far, she said, including an anonymous $50,000 donation.The MSU Senior Class Council also picked the Bronze Sparty Statue Fund as its senior class gift, an annual fundraiser for special campus projects.
It was a visit to Ohio State’s union eight years ago that ironically inspired the idea for the new Sparty statue.
“We saw a monument to Brutus, Ohio State University’s mascot when we toured their brand new union and thought we could do the exact same thing for Sparty, the best mascot in the Big Ten,” Kuhn said. Union staff began talking about getting a Sparty statue inside the MSU Union six years ago, which found traction last year thanks in part to interest from the Senior Class Council.
“I thought this would be a great opportunity to get more people inside the Union,” said Marc Reed, an MSU senior who heard about the idea as a student representative on the MSU Union Advisory Board. The MSU Union is a gathering point for students looking for food or a place to study and contains a number of popular destinations including an MSU Dairy Store location as well as the Spartan Spirit Shop.
The new mascot display will add an extra attraction for prospective students and families, who currently flock to the Spartan statue on campus for photos. It will also be something this year's graduating seniors can leave behind for future Spartans to enjoy.
Union officials reached out to Brown last year after selecting her from among a cluster of half a dozen proposals, Kuhn said. Brown visited campus last year and talked to students and staff about what Sparty meant to them.
“Work ethic was something everyone talked about and it was a core value that I am inspired by as well,” the University of Oregon graduate said. While she’ll always don green and yellow at games, Brown said her new connection with MSU means she’ll likely have to incorporate some green and white into her wardrobe.
Contact RJ Wolcott at (517) 377-1026 or rwolcott@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @wolcottr.
How you can contribute
To donate to the Bronze Sparty Statue Fund, visit givingto.msu.edu/ and select the give now button. Prospective donors can then type Bronze Sparty into the search box to give directly to the project.