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2 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Police say Grants Pass man admits to 50 vehicle thefts in Rogue Valley ... Sterlingville Cemetery cleanup will include insight into pioneers' hard lives ... Ashland upskirt photography suspect arrested ... Police say Grants Pass man admits to 50 vehicle thefts in Rogue Valley ... Sterlingville Cemetery cleanup will include insight into pioneers' hard lives ... Ashland upskirt photography suspect arrested ... 'Third Eye Theater' finds home on campus ASHLAND — The Southern Oregon University quad — until now just a stretch of peaceful grass — has taken a leap into the artistic, displaying two arcs of stepping stones flanked by four very humanoid-looking stone people. The stones invite passersby to participate in some way, maybe by reading a book, performi... Comment By JOHN DARLING MailTribune.com By JOHN DARLING Posted Nov. 7, 2008 at 12:45 AM By JOHN DARLING Posted Nov. 7, 2008 at 12:45 AM » RELATED CONTENT • Video: Third Eye Theater » Social News ASHLAND — The Southern Oregon University quad — until now just a stretch of peaceful grass — has taken a leap into the artistic, displaying two arcs of stepping stones flanked by four very humanoid-looking stone people. The stones invite passersby to participate in some way, maybe by reading a book, performing a dance or, like a group of four hardy guys on Thursday, doing handstands and leaping from stone to stone. The striking sculpture, called "The Third Eye Theater," was created by Dorbe Holden of Olympia, Wash., and purchased for the school through the Oregon Percentage for the Arts program. It originally was purchased 10 years ago and placed at SOU Family Housing on Wightman Street, but children injured themselves on it, so it was moved to the quad in late October, said Larry Blake, SOU associate vice president for Facilities, Management and Planning. The two arcs, each comprising 20 stepping stones of increasing, then shrinking heights, are made of columns of jointed basalt, with six sides. They enclose a circle with four flat stones, seeming to represent a performance space, perhaps inviting a dance or speech, while spectators sit on the stones. The five-foot high "stone people" have rough boulders for bodies, with oval river rocks for heads. Artist Holden said the array is meant to be an "impromptu stage" and the stone people represent people coming forward to "hold the space" and interact with it. The title indicates the "third eye of inner knowing, the place where people come together to create and enjoy relating." Holden said she hopes SOU students will interact with the stones in different ways — and in different seasons, including dressing the stone people up for various events — and see themselves as stewards of the array. "Out intent is an interactive inspiration where you have your own experience," she said. "Art makes an incredible impact when people can be with it, rather than standing back as observers." Blake said the original location, sited a decade ago, was not well thought through. Holden said the sculpture was "lost" there. A three-member committee reviewed sites on campus and, said Blake, the most central location of all turned out to be the right location. As they got used to the imposing array over the past weeks, students tended to agree. "It feels like Stonehenge. It's nice to have something to look at instead of just grass," said sophomore Tommy Hooper, after doing handstands while his pals hopped around the arc of stones between classes. "This used to be a study area but this looks real cool, among all the red leaves. It seems real peaceful, scenic and open," said Stewart Cole, one of the guys hopping stones. Strolling by, senior Alyssa Sullivan observed that the center of the array represents the yin-yang, a Chinese sign of opposites (heat-cold, light-dark) in balance, while the humanoid stone figures represent "people and their disconnection from the center." The extension of the two arcs outside the circle, Sullivan added, invites people to use it in an interactive way. "It's beautiful," she said. Senior Katy Alstat observed that at first, she thought it was a memorial, because of its standing stones, but now, "it resembles the SOU community." She added that the spot had been popular as a place for students to hang out and study on warm spring days and she hoped that would continue. The Percentage for the Arts Program, started in 1975, mandates that 1 percent of budgets for new or remodeled state buildings be devoted to the arts. The program paid for the cost of moving the project. John Darling is a freelance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected]. By JOHN DARLING MailTribune.com By JOHN DARLING Posted Nov. 7, 2008 at 12:45 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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