April 8, 2026 | Abbi Duhart | News Editor
Over spring break, a new statue of two wolves standing on a plank over two boulders appeared near the Student Success Center, leaving many students confused as to where it came from or why Western bought it in the midst of a budget crisis.
The only notice students received of the new statues was an Instagram post from Western President Jesse Peters. The picture showed Peters posing with the two wolves with the caption reading “What a beautiful day on the most beautiful campus in Oregon!! And I found two new wolf friends too!!”
The statue weighs around 1,100 pounds and was installed with a forklift. Students were left unaware of who created this piece of art, with the only clue being a small signature at the bottom left of the statue reading “Rude 2026.”
After this, students were left wondering what the reasoning was behind getting this new statue, especially with the news coming out around the same time that Destination Western would be cut. Addressing this, Gabriela Eyster, the project manager at Facilities Services, clarified that construction projects funded by the state set aside 1% of their budget for art installations such as the new statue. Through Oregon’s Art Acquisition legislation, pieces of art are selected in a facilitated process for qualifying Oregon state buildings, encouraging creativity, dialogue and value in the community. Western used a portion of this money to fund the statue because they wanted art representation on campus that was “truly iconic to the university,” and pointed out that Western doesn’t currently possess something akin to the wolves statue. Additionally, the statue was placed by the Student Success Center because it is a central location on campus as a new building and would be the most ideal spot to showcase art that represented the university.
The next step in this process was picking an artist; Eyster explained that the main criteria for this piece included art that would work well with the site location, evoke campus community, reflect the concepts of the building such as intentionality and resiliency and focus on accessibility and inclusivity.
The committee in charge of the new statue received detailed proposals from four different artists, and ultimately decided to go with Brad Rude because they “felt that his work matched what our mission was.” Once selected, Rude proposed not only the statue currently on campus, but an additional indoor piece of art that will be installed in May.
In terms of the indoor piece, Rude explained that he plans to create a long storyboard that portrays one continuous storyline showing “the adventures of the wolves.” There will be nature scenes as well as depictions of Wolfie. Additionally, students can come up with a piece of paper, place it against one of the frames and do a rubbing with their hand or a little bit of graphite to get an impression. “It’s kind of like collecting cards, you know, baseball cards or something. Collect all 20 scenes, put them together, mix them.”
The budget for both the current statue and the future indoor piece altogether was $135,000.
Eyster explained that Western has been working with Karl Burkheimer, the Oregon Arts Commission project coordinator, in regards to the statue since 2023, and Rude confirmed that the project has been in the works since October 2024. Burkheimer led this process, including gathering information from the art selection committee, assigning budget planning, writing the statue proposal and searching for artists, ultimately leading to Rude. The art selection committee consists of members who represent the commission agency, community members, art professionals and a project architect. These members are then involved in every step of the process such as choosing the type of art, the location, values and themes for the art, selecting artists and providing feedback.
Rude additionally provided an artist’s statement for his piece currently on campus entitled Arch of Inquiry. He explained that the statue is about individuals approaching each other to meet new people and make new friends, essentially saying “hello.” Each individual is calm and curious, and each comes from a unique place encompassing different backgrounds and cultures, represented by the two large boulders that the wolves are standing on. The plank in the middle connects the two boulders and represents the connection between different individuals despite their different foundations. This plank allows the individuals to come to each other and connect rather than being isolated on their own boulder; the smaller stones on top of the wolves represent their individual hopes and dreams. Each brings different perspectives to the other and allows the other to learn something new.
Rude also explained that he wanted a piece of artwork that the community could interact with, such as being able to sit on the plank. Referencing the two wolves, he said, “Yes, it’s about these two individuals that have somehow come together in kind of an interesting way, but they each have their own direction. It sets up the idea that the human viewer is part of this group as well.”
While this change appeared to students quickly, there are many other art pieces around campus from various artists that seek to do the same thing: convey the community, culture and brightness of Western. Other pieces include works from Hector Hernandez entitled “Dreams Come True,” “Sources of Knowledge” and “Dreams of Education” — all outside the Welcome Center. 3D artwork is also featured in the ITC from Louis Chinn and Huameng Yu.
Encompassing the same idea that many of the art pieces around campus seek to, Rude added, “I wanted these to be iconic and a mascot for the entire student body. The entire community as well.”
Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu
