University President Turns Down Sculpture

Stanford University’s president has rejected an outdoor sculpture for the campus of an upside-down church with its steeple poking into the ground.

John Hennessy overruled the recommendation of a panel created to select artwork. It is the first time in 13 years that has happened, according to the director of Stanford’s art museum. The panel has chosen more than 70 sculptures for the campus.

The 22-foot-high work, titled “Device to Root Out Evil,” is by Dennis Oppenheim, a New York City-based sculptor and Stanford alumnus. Hennessy said in a statement that the work was inappropriate given the university’s “long-term goals for outdoor art.” Among the factors he cited were aesthetics and the sculpture’s “emotional impact on the community.”