Tour - Scripps Art Tour

Scripps Art Tour

Claremont, California 91711, United States

Created By: Scripps College

Tour Information

Scripps College was founded in 1926 by newspaper publisher and philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps. Amongst other innovations, Ms. Scripps invented the sidebar feature in newspapers, which offers supplemental information to the reader. Active till the end of her days, she was in her nineties when she began to plan the College. Though the campus has grown over the years, it has maintained the original design and layout of its primary architect, Gordon B. Kaufmann. Since the College’s inception, Scripps has been a beacon for artists in Southern California and beyond. These artists often fostered adeep connection with the College in return, creating long-lasting relationships. Visiting these artists’ works on campus is a wonderful way to get to know the College and its history.

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What You'll See on the Tour

Swing Low: Harriet Tubman Memorial

This bronze maquette is by Scripps alumna Alison Saar ’78. The piece is a smaller version of the full-sized sculpture commissioned in 2008 for the Harriet Tubman Memorial Plaza in Harlem. The memorial itself is 13 feet high. Roots pull at... Read more

Ritual Object (Aldo Casanova)

This bronze statue by Aldo Casanova was made in 1965. Casanova worked on a number of pieces called Ritual Object, all variations on bronze, and all heavily textured, rectangular shapes. Today, this piece stands amidst the greenery in the c... Read more

Untitled (Paul Soldner)

Paul Soldner served as an army medic during World War II. After returning to the US, Soldner pursued a career in the arts, eventually receiving his MFA in ceramics from Otis Art Institute in 1956. From 1959 to 1991 he taught at Scripps Coll... Read more

Grace Scripps Clark Hall

Clark Dorm was first opened in the fall of 1928, as a joint gift of Grace Scripps Clark and Ellen Browning Scripps. The dorm was a joint gift of Grace Scripps Clark and Ellen Browning Scripps in memory of James E. Scripps, father and brothe... Read more

Eleanor Joy Toll Hall

Opened in 1927, Toll Dorm was the first residence hall at the College. Eleanor Joy Toll was one of the early trustees and a prominent leader of education, music, and civic progress for women in Southern California. One of Toll Dorm’s feat... Read more

Rose Garden

The Rose Garden, built in 1930, was designed by Edward Huntsman-Trout for students to cut and enjoy fresh flowers. The rose planting beds in the garden were replanted in 2004. The garden retains its original Huntsman-Trout layout, restored ... Read more

Graffiti Wall

Graffiti Wall was started as a record of each Scripps graduating class since 1931. Each class chooses an image to be painted by a fellow classmate and the rest of the class signs their names around it. The wall is an important part of Scrip... Read more

Browning Hall

Browning Dorm, opened in 1929, bears the first two names of Ellen Browning Scripps, founder of Scripps College. The central courtyard, Mañana Court, originally had vegetation entirely native to Mexico. Today the courtyard consists of both ... Read more

Dorsey Hall

Dorsey Dorm was opened in the fall of 1930. The dorm was financed almost entirely by women, and was named after Mrs. Dorsey, the first women superintendent of schools in Los Angeles and one of the first trustees of Scripps College.

Margaret Fowler Memorial Garden

The garden was designed by Gordon Kaufman in 1934. The enclosed, European medieval-style cloister garden accompanies thesmall chapel (oratory) on the northeast side. The garden’s square design with a central water feature also alludes to ... Read more

Eternal Primitive

Eternal Primitive is a 1965 sculpture by Albert Stewart. He did several sketches for the statue before deciding on its current form. Stewart meant for it to be in contrast with the Virgin and Child sculpture outside the oratory, choosing to... Read more

Virgin and Child

This ceramic bas relief sculpture is just outside the entrance to the oratory in Margaret Fowler Garden. It was designed by the Wallis-Wiley Studio of Pasadena. The sculpture is done in the style of Della Robbia, a form of sculpture modeled... Read more

Stained Glass Window

The stained-glass window in the oratory was donated in 1947 as a gift from Cornelia Dexter Merkel of the class of ’41. The window was designed and made by the Wallis-Wiley Studio of Pasadena.

Flower Vendors

Flower Vendors is a mural in Margaret Fowler Garden by the artist Alfredo Ramos Martinez. Alfredo Ramos Martinez is often celebrated as the father of the Mexican Mural Movement of the 20th century. Martinez began the 100-foot-long mural in ... Read more

Juncture

Aldo Casanova was a Scripps sculpture professor for more than thirty years, starting in 1966. Casanova drew much of his inspiration from the native plant and animal life of California and the everlasting resilience of nature. His materials ... Read more

Abraham's Column (Jim Huntington)

This steel and granite piece is by artist Jim Huntington, gifted in 1981 by Janet Anderson and Roger Abrahams (from 1980-1986, Abrahams was a professor of Humanities and Anthropology at Scripps and Pitzer). Huntington was born in Indiana, a... Read more

Man and Nature (Albert Stewart)

Man and Nature is a 1965 bronze sculpture by Albert Stewart. Stewart was a popular artist in Southern California and internationally. His sculptures can be seen decorating the US State Department building in Washington, DC, the Scottish Rit... Read more

Bound Goat Thursday (Jack Zajac)

Bound Goat Thursday, made in 1962, is a bronze sculpture by the artist Jack Zajac. Zajac was born in 1929 and studied art at Scripps College from 1949 to 1953 with Millard Sheets. Zajac was admitted as a special, non-degree seeking student ... Read more

Seal Court

Located next to the Motley coffee shop, the courtyard is a popular place for students to relax and enjoy the California sunshine. The key figures of Seal Court are the two bronze seals at either end of the pond. The seals were originally tu... Read more

The Doors of Life

These bronze doors were designed in 1939 by Lawrence Tenney Stevens. Stevens was an American sculptor who was known for his allegorical figures and stylized depictions of the American West. Stevens became good friends with Millard Sheets, w... Read more

Fawn

Fawn is a bronze sculpture on the west side of Malott commons. It was created in 1952 by Albert Stewart. The statue and pool are a memorial to Helen Dagget, class of ’34. The mosaic background of the fountain bears a poem by Ruth George, ... Read more

Shakespeare Reliefs

John Gregory, a well-known American sculptor, used the eight plaster bas-reliefs at Scripps to cast his famous marble reliefs, which now reside on the north façade of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. Each relief depicts a... Read more

The Flower Sellers, 1937-1939 (Alfredo Ramos Martinez)

The Flower Sellers is a concrete tile mural by the artist Alfredo Ramos Martinez, completed during the years 1937-1939. The piece is made of concrete tiles with oxide polychromy and a glazed terra-cotta border. The mural was conserved by Ed... Read more