University Facilities

Since the opening of it’s Swamp Rabbit Trail in 2010, the city of Greenville has drastically benefited from the positive contributions the additional outdoor recreational space brought to its community. The trail encouraged local citizens to walk, run, or bike outdoors along it’s nearly 20 miles that stretch from Greenville Technical College to the city of Travelers Rest, and features plenty of sights along the way, including Furman University and the Swamp Rabbit Café. Communities like Clemson have been looking to model area spaces with similarities to Greenville’s cross-town trail.

According to Planning & Design Director Gerald Vander Mey, Clemson won’t have to wait much longer.  Recently, Vander Mey and his team received a $1M grant from the South Carolina Department of Transportation for the implementation of an outdoor walking and biking trail running from the edge of Clemson University’s campus towards the city of Pendleton. The grant has been matched with an additional $250K in funds from the University, and will be used for the grading, drainage, paving, signage, and trail head amenities for the path. Vander Mey says the overall goal of the trail will be to eventually reach the Clemson University Research Park in Anderson, but that it will take time and additional planning to extend it that far.

This project is said to come from a continued effort by the University and its staff to support healthy living, sustainability, and the need for transportation demand management (TDM). University Facilities has managed similar projects in the past, such as creating bike ways along Perimeter Road as well as extending pedestrian sidewalks on campus, and are looking forward to the opportunity to create a new trail for public use. The project will be managed by SCDOT, and will stretch at least to Highway 93. This will allow the trail to connect to the Green Crescent Trail, another outdoor biking and walking path that will stretch from Clemson, through Central, and out to Easley.

The trail leading from Clemson will be paved with asphalt, and will stretch 10 feet wide to leave room for walkers, bikers, and runners coming from either direction.  Vander Mey says that he not only expects the trail to help enhance the quality of life of the campus and community, but that he also thinks it will help recruit and retain more students in the future, as well as provide new opportunities for outdoor-based classes and programs for Clemson students.

Meetings between the Planning & Design department and SCDOT are underway, and initial plans for the trail have been presented to administration and the Board of Trustees.

Students have returned to campus to find a newly completed art installation just outside of Core Campus. The small courtyards outside of several of the building’s entrances have traded traditional landscaping for forests of steel, the spires of which hold up flocks of colorful wing-forms. The commissioned artist, Koryn Rolstad, commented that the piece would “integrate the ‘Chroma’ of sunset to sunrise, seasons, and integrate the University school colors for a flowing energizing and elegant spectrum experience.”

This latest infusion of art into Core Campus’s outdoor space can be attributed to Atelier InSite, a Creative Inquiry program driven by students whose focus is to bring public art to Clemson’s campus.  The program previously worked with San Francisco-based artist Klari Reis to bring the “Clemson Genus Project” to the Life Sciences Facility in 2014, and will be installing a new work this Fall semester for Lee III.

The Core Campus endeavor first began back in 2015, during which the students and faculty in Atelier InSite fielded over 200+ artist portfolios. Art professor David Detrich stated that one of the greatest challenges over the course of the two year selection and installation process was the “magnitude of the scope of the project,” but that Rolstad was chosen for her success in other similar settings. Atelier InSite student Michala Stewart added that the site-specific work “filled both the exterior and interior of Core with different designs that still complement one another so well.” Michala was also able to participate in the large scale installment in collaboration with other students and faculty, including Mr. Detrich, exemplifying Atelier InSite’s mission to include students in every step of the public art development process.

Detrich hopes that the work “becomes a great conversation piece between nature and architecture.” He states that the color is meant to lure participants out into the courtyard or into Core Campus B to engage them in a new part of Core Campus in which they may find new meaning. Michala also believes that the piece will engage her fellow students in something new and interesting, and hopes that Rolstad’s work will be “like a breath of fresh air.”

University Facilities also had a significant role to play, not only in the process of the art installation, but also in the finer details of the surrounding area. After the artist’s work was successfully installed, University Facilities took over to pave the walkways among the art, plant greenery under the colored spokes, and ensure that drainage was properly installed around the courtyard. Campus Planner & Landscape Architect Barry Anderson commented on how University Facilities worked to ensure that the additions were “implemented in a fashion that complimented the artist’s intentions,” and “[ensured] the experience of the art was fully accessible to all who want to explore the art from within.”

This project, as with all projects from Atelier InSite, was a major cross-campus collaboration between students, faculty, and staff. Detrich says that the growth he has seen from his students over the course of this two-year effort stems from their involvement in every aspect of the undertaking. He believes that “they quickly become invested in the process in that each project becomes part of a contributing mark they leave on campus.” Michala also reflected on how she “was treated as part of the team and helped with nearly every aspect of the large installation,” teaching her not only how the process is carried out, but also about how to work as a part of a large team of faculty and staff.

Rolstad’s work can be viewed in the two main courtyards of Core Campus, as well as within the Core Campus B building, hanging down from above.