YSU student art perches in Tod Hall

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Student artist Dan Newman named his steel sculpture “Interpreter,” but viewers of the sculpture in the lobby of Tod Hall at Youngstown State University call it “birdman” instead.

Newman, a YSU junior, doesn’t mind.

An art major, Newman designed the steel rod sculpture, now on display in Tod Hall, to resemble a half-man, half-parakeet. Ten feet long, with a beaked head and four-toed parakeet-like feet, the piece has two large wings on its back.

YSU President Jim Tressel noticed the work this spring at the McDonough Museum and asked that it be placed on temporary display at Tod Hall. Newman agreed, and he recruited a friend and fellow art major, Nick Carney, to help assemble the piece.

“We’re thrilled to have Dan’s work displayed this way,” said Greg Moring, professor and chairman of YSU’s Art Department. “We’d certainly like to see more student artwork exhibited around campus.”

Newman is a native of West Middlesex, Pa., and is majoring in 3-D studies, which includes sculpture and ceramics. After earning his baccalaureate at YSU, he plans to pursue a master’s degree in fine arts and hopes to teach art on the college level.