The third floor of the Anderson Student Center now displays some exciting changes. The curved wall leading to the James B. Woulfe Alumni Hall presents a beautiful new donor recognition installation honoring President’s Council donors (who give $1,000 or more in a fiscal year) and William and Elizabeth Finn Heritage Society members (who give planned or deferred gifts to the university). The installation recognizes these donors and celebrates the philanthropy of the St. Thomas community.
The 30-foot wall features a large-scale graphic of the arches, 20 multilayered panels of glass, LED lighting and donor names. The names represented are from the previous fiscal year and will be updated each year (a flat-panel monitor near the wall will feature new members as they join throughout the year). Perhaps the most exciting part of the installation is the use of 3M Dichroic film that is applied to the back side of the glass panels. This film causes light to reflect off the glass in various ways and gives the display a sense of movement through subtly changing color hues as the viewer passes by.
A local firm, LAink, designed the installation. Its president, Drew Sternal, also worked on the Hall of Fame installation and the Alumni Awards display on the windows of Woulfe Alumni Hall. LAink has done extensive work at the University of Minnesota, St. Catherine’s, Macalester and William Mitchell. Each of Sternal’s designs is elegant, donor-centered and reflective of the culture and style of the institution it represents.
Fabrication of the President’s Council-Finn wall was done by Archetype. In addition to fabricating the signage within the Anderson Student Center (T’s, Scooters, Tommie Central, etc.), Archetype has built extensive interior and exterior signage installations at Target Field, local and national health care organizations and countless retail stores across the country.
Take time to check out the donor recognition installation on the third floor of the Anderson Student Center. This wonderful addition to the campus provides a place to honor and encourage philanthropy among members of the student body, the university community and all visitors to campus.
