Cross-Campus Collaboration Culminates in New Outdoor Geological Installation

The GeoLab sits in the lower tier courtyard of Gearhart Hall, just steps away from the Curvahedra. Photos by Austin Brown.

Those desiring to embark on a journey through time and Earth’s geological wonders need go no further than the University of Arkansas campus. 

The GeoLab is a new outdoor installation in the lower tier courtyard of Gearhart Hall that features 26 geological samples from across Arkansas. A grand opening event to celebrate the new installation is scheduled for Friday, May 3 at 3:30 p.m.

Arranged and displayed to celebrate the geological history and richness of the state, the rock samples are organized by geologic time, with the oldest samples on the west end, which become progressively younger moving toward the east end.

The project is the direct result of collaboration across campus and in partnership with statewide entities. The Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences and its Department of Geosciences, Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, and the Honors College played a large part in bringing the installation to fruition. 

The GeoLab features 26 geological samples from across Arkansas.

Lynda Coon, dean of the Honors College, has been dedicated to the development of the courtyard for many years — particularly focusing on how the space might demonstrate the creativity and curiosity inherent in an academic setting, as exemplified by the Honors College, which is housed in Gearhart Hall. 

“My office window overlooks the green space of the Gearhart Courtyard. I can already gauge the effect of housing a GeoLab on this side of campus,” Coon said. “The space has become an intellectual curiosity for visitors to campus, a research site for students working in geosciences, and a singular playground for the children’s groups set free to roam its rugged forms.

“What I love about this academic hub on campus is how the courtyard puts sculpture — in this instance, the Gearhart Curvahedra — into conversation with fossilized artifacts of the natural world,” she added. “Which is an appropriate dialogue for the quad framing the Graduate School, Geosciences, and the Honors College.”

AN ORIGIN STORY

The GeoLab’s origin story began about six years ago, with the seeds of an idea to create a display of geological samples on campus in a way that was celebratory as well as educational, planted by Christopher Liner, then chair of the Department of Geosciences, and Mac McGilvery, adjunct professor in geosciences.

Christopher Liner (left) and Carl Smith.

Almost concurrently, an idea for a potential Gearhart installation had also cropped up during an Honors College signature seminar called “Place in Mind” that Edmund Harriss, assistant professor of mathematical sciences, and Carl Smith, professor of landscape architecture, taught. 

The dots of the project that would become GeoLab started further connecting through talks with Facilities Management, and then, in spring 2021, Dean Coon and the Curvahedra sculpture design team joined the talks, with landscape architecture’s Smith now serving as the project’s faculty design advisor.

That summer, Liner then also undertook a 1,000-mile solo quest to meet quarry and mine operators across Arkansas, develop rock sample donation agreements, and even secure a legal contract with the Arkansas Geological Survey to place three samples on permanent loan to the GeoLab. 

By summer 2022, Liner, McGilvery and Robert Liner, a geology alumnus, were then ready to select individual rock samples with documented reasons for their selection. Across the state, enthusiasm for the GeoLab project and the U of A was extraordinary, Liner said, and all samples were transported from their original locations to a U of A farm staging area. 

Finally, by late fall 2022, the GeoLab project was ready for on-campus construction to begin. This phase of the project was funded solely by the Maurice F. Storm Endowed Chair, which Liner has held since 2012.

“GeoLab is many things to many people,” said Liner, who is now an associate dean of Fulbright College. “The geologist will likely see a microcosm of the surface rocks of Arkansas, and the geographer will link it to the state’s economic and political zones, while the artist may ponder its connection to Curvahedra and interrelation of color, shape and form. Those attuned to human culture may also recognize its relationships to indigenous habitats and resources, as well as modern society’s growing need for minerals, groundwater, agriculture and energy.”

Likewise, Peter MacKeith, dean of the Fay Jones School, said that GeoLab “exemplifies the value and vitality of a university education.”

“The project synthesizes and demonstrates knowledge drawn from many disciplines that is then creatively and tangibly expressed in phenomenal geological formations, through interdisciplinary and collaborative work engaging faculty and alumni,” he added. “What more could a student or visitor or faculty or staff member want or hope for from such a magical place?” 

AN INSTALLATION FOR THE COMMUNITY

Arranged and displayed to celebrate the geological history and richness of the state, the rock samples are organized by geologic time, with the oldest samples on the west end, becoming progressively younger moving toward the east end of the courtyard.

From the beginning, GeoLab’s location was a natural fit in its courtyard location with both the Honors College and the Department of Geosciences also located in Gearhart Hall. 

And with an anticipated 1,000-plus lab students annually able to now experience the installation, Liner said, the project acts as an interactive geology and geography lesson for the entire community. 

Carl Smith, the professor of landscape architecture and project’s faculty design advisor, agreed, adding that, “the rocks of Arkansas underlie all we do both literally and figuratively; it is the land that begets our culture and our identity.” 

“We are lucky to have some true visionaries on our campus, and GeoLab is the result of that vision, as well as the inexhaustive energy and tenacity required to build such a project,” he said.

Additionally, the landscape architect of record on the project was alumna Jenny Burbidge (B.L.A. ’10), owner of Prism Design and a former student of Smith’s. She said she views the project as truly exemplary of landscape architecture, in that it intersects and balances between function and art. 

“These rocks are phenomenal; they are sculptural, historical and all chosen to demonstrate a specific time and space in Arkansas’ geologic history,” Burbidge said. “Consider it a curated art collection that you have special permission to touch, sit on and study within.”

The project’s design and implementation were also a collaborative effort between DCI Inc., Flintco Construction LLC, Prism Design LLC, and members of the university community, including the Facilities Management team, which provided vital campus planning and construction coordination. 

“It was important to work together in this way to tie the project to both the specific pedagogical needs of geosciences and our students, as well as to the atmosphere of the broader campus community,” said Kathryn Sloan, interim dean of Fulbright College, which is home to the Department of Geosciences. “The result is something quite special that will be both incredibly aesthetically pleasing and educational for generations to come.” 

Alumna Burbidge agreed, adding that, “It was an incredible project from the start.

“Having a mark on the university campus is the pinnacle of my career thus far. At its essence, this project is the physical culmination of earth and art, a true manifestation of landscape architecture,” she said.

While geosciences students and faculty will benefit from this new teaching resource, the project’s interdisciplinary team hopes GeoLab will ultimately serve and speak to the whole campus and surrounding community. 

“GeoLab really needs to be experienced in person,” Smith said. “The colors, the textures, and the whole ambiance is dynamic and constantly changing. And there really is something magical about being able to interact with something so tangible yet so unfathomably old.”

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas’ flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas’ economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.

This story also appeared in the University of Arkansas News publication.