An Old Friend in a Different Form

Althea Dotzour

For more than 100 years, a stately elm tree known as “Elmer” stood in the courtyard outside the Hector F. DeLuca Biochemical Sciences Building. It served as a meeting place that connected generations of students and researchers — until Dutch elm disease struck, and Elmer came down in 2018. But the tree has returned to the building in the form of a striking art installation by Chloris Lowe ’04, who created rods from Elmer’s wood, attached them to a frame shaped like a molecular structure, and hung them in a study room near the tree’s old location. Titled Hogiwe Hirokirere Hii (Connecting Paths), the piece recognizes campus’s Ho-Chunk history and anchors yet another UW meeting place.

Published in the Fall 2024 issue