Melvin G. Leiserowitz, an MSU sculpture professor from 1964 to 1990 who designed and constructed the “Orpheus” sculpture in front of Wharton Center, died peacefully in his home in East Lansing Feb. 5, 2015.
Leiserowitz was not a famous sculptor while he taught at MSU, and in fact had begun sculpting as a hobby only a few years before, after one of his friends told him he was focusing too much on his work.
After finding sculpting to be his new hobby, Leiserowitz enrolled at The University of Iowa and was admitted as the oldest student in the art program at the time at age 38. He completed the program in two years and earned his masters of arts degree, according to his obituary.
Leiserowitz then came to MSU in 1964 to teach, before Wharton Center was even an idea.
During the time Leiserowitz was teaching at MSU, Dolores Wharton, wife of then-MSU president Clifton Wharton, hosted exhibitions at her home to display the artwork of MSU professors and advocate for a higher focus on arts in society.
“She started a program after Clif became president, where she would host exhibits of art from MSU professors, because she wanted to promote the importance of the visual arts in East Lansing,” son of Melvin Leiserowitz, Bruce Leiserowitz said.
Melvin Leiserowitz quickly became familiar with Dolores Wharton through these exhibitions, and when a plan for a performing arts center arose, she commissioned him to design a structure fit for the front entrance.
The structure was designed in collaboration with the Whartons and was meant to be a piece that inspired deep thought, but the name “Orpheus,” who was a legendary poet, musician and prophet in ancient Greek mythology, was given to Leiserowitz by a friend, because he didn’t like to name his art pieces for artistic reasons.
“Mel never named his pieces because he didn’t want to influence how people thought about it. He wanted people to create their own meanings,” Bruce said.
The sculpture still incites thought today, and has also been used for things his father never could have guessed over the years, Bruce Leiserowitz said, such as a gathering area for sunbathing students or a spot for skateboarders to ride on the steel in warm months.
But Melvin Leiserowitz did see the piece as a part of the environment and encouraged people to walk through and experience it.
“It is an environmental sculpture and is meant to be walked thru (sic) and around,” Melvin Leiserowitz wrote in his notes while preparing to build the structure. “I wanted a piece that could be experienced from the outside.”
Melvin Leiserowitz’s other public works include sculptures at the Beth Israel Synagogue in Ann Arbor, Oakland University in Meadow Brook Hall, and the Horticulture Gardens and Kresge Art Building here at MSU.
He was not only a great sculptor but had great passion and enthusiasm for what he did and for teaching, friend and former colleague Roger Funk said.
“Even when I went to visit him last August, he was still sculpting and was so enthused with his projects at the time. ... It was surreal,” Funk said.
Melvin Leiserowitz is survived by his wife Nancy Leiserowitz, children Gary, Bruce, Anthony, and Andrea, grand-children Erica, Toby, Alexander, and Sofia, brothers Alfred and Robert Leiserowitz and a sister Marie Leviton.
