The Hilltoppers

       If you understand the history of St. Edward’s University, you know that the school was founded in 1878 by Father Sorin. Sorin originally obtained the property from an old woman who owned the farm that occupied the land. The University appointed the mascot to be the St. Edward’s “Hilltoppers” in honor of the hill that the school sat on. When you walk around many university’s campuses, you can easily find statues of their mascots spread out around the grounds. Although this may be true in some instances, St. Edward’s does not have a statue of our beloved Hilltopper! So, my idea is to create sculptures that will represent the goats that used to call our hill their home. These pieces of art will be interactive since many students and visitors will be able to sit, play, jump, and admire them.

On top of the hill, Main Building towers over the soccer fields that lie below. In order to get down to the soccer fields, one must carefully climb down the steep incline. My plan is to spread out the Hilltopper sculptures all along the hill in order to represent the goats in their habitat. I plan on creating about 5 to 6 sculptures as to not crowd the hill, and I intend to use bronze as my material of choice in order to give the sculptures definition. They will stand about five feet tall each and be placed in various positions, such as one or two grazing, looking out into the distance, and mingling together. I intend to have them anchored down by several unseen stakes that dig several feet into the ground. There will be a plaque at the bottom of the hill that will tell the story of the goats and why St. Edward’s became known as the Hilltoppers. Please understand that I am not the best artist and that the picture given was only created to show you where I intend the sculptures to stand! 

-Alexander Sumners