AMES, IOWA.- In celebration of University Museums' 50th anniversary, a new sculpture has been commissioned for the permanent collection.

Hive Mind (2025) is a site-specific outdoor commission created by internationally-recognized artist Beth Lipman. The installation process for the new sculpture began on May 19th and was completed on May 23rd. This large-scale sculpture is roughly 3000 lbs. and is located in the green space between Morrill Hall and Beardshear Hall. Lipman's artistic skills in glass are featured in Hive Mind, along with incorporating metal elements into the mass of the sculpture. Lipman designed the installation to represent not only the social history of ISU's campus but also highlights the output of research, invention, and innovation completed at Iowa State University.

"We're extremely excited to have Lipman's art join our Art on Campus Collection," said Lynette Pohlman, Warren and Beverly Madden Endowed Director and Chief Curator, University Museums. "Her research and dedication to helping tell our story through art makes for a unique and deeply personal sculpture that a variety of generations can appreciate and celebrate. Hive Mind helps reinforce the importance of the arts to the campus and the ways in which art can enhance the educational experience of Iowa State students."

Following a series of interviews and visits with Iowa State faculty and staff, Lipman designed the sculpture to take the form of a large round hay bale, constructed of frosted and transparent glass and metal, honoring the innovative round hay baler machinery that was invented at the university in the mid 1960s. Other glass elements within the bale form include representations of significant contributions made by the Iowa State community members throughout the schools' history, depicting the continuing force of innovation. These glass objects are embedded within the cast metal bale, made from actual molds of hay, symbolizing the land on which Iowa State resides, the humans who have made significant impacts while on campus, and the innovations that have been made through research completed here. The sculpture was commissioned using private funding provided by the Joyce Tomlinson Brewer Fund for Art Acquisition, Carole S. Gee, Beate Schmittmann, and Steve and Audrey Marley.

The elements of this sculpture allude to the past, present, and future impacts made by Iowa State University, examining how these objects and innovations have played significant roles in world history and the future power of research being done on campus today. The form of a hay bale also represents the layering time, how there is always an interplay between the past and present that will inform the future in a constant cyclical motion.

The title Hive Mind alludes to the campus as location of constant innovation, a hive of research and collaborative work to develop ideas that have and will impact the world.

Beth Lipman lives and works in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin. She has exhibited her work internationally and at such national institutions as the Ringling Museum of Art (FL), RISD Museum (RI), Milwaukee Art Museum (WI), and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (DC). Her work has been acquired by numerous museums including the North Carolina Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum of Art (NY), Kemper Museum for Contemporary Art (MO), Smithsonian American Art Museum (DC), Jewish Museum (NY), Norton Museum of Art, (FL), and the Corning Museum of Glass (NY).

Beth Lipman's works of art will be the feature of the fall 2025 exhibition at the Christian Petersen Art Museum, 1017 Morrill Hall, opening in late August.