If you’ve been around, or driven through, the IUPUI campus you may have seen a towering, somewhat whimsical sculpture located in the courtyard at the Glick Eye Institute.  The piece is Open Eyes by Don Gummer, a former Indianapolis resident and Herron School of Art and Design alumnus now living in New York City.  Open Eyes was privately commissioned to honor the Indiana University Department of Ophthalmology and was dedicated at the opening of the Glick Eye Institute in 2011.  It is made from stainless steel and incorporates glass to communicate the range of colors that the human eye can perceive, so it looks best on a sunny day or at night when spotlights make the colors glow.

Gummer, a graduate of Ben Davis High School, has two other pieces in Indianapolis:  South Tower, located at Eskenazi Hall (the home of the Herron School of Art) on the IUPUI campus, and Southern Circle, located near the intersection of Meridian and South Sts. He was also commissioned to create a piece for Indiana University’s Bloomington campus in honor of the late Myles Brand, a former president of IU.  All share the signature “Gummer look” of flat ribbons of steel, arranged in parallel series and seemingly defying the forces of gravity. 

More about the artwork: http://www.publicartarchive.org/work/open-eyes#date and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Eyes

More about the artist: http://www.dongummer.com