| Beneficence | |
|---|---|
 Beneficence and colonnade | |
| Artist | Daniel Chester French (Statue) Richard Henry Dana (Promenade) |
| Year | 1937 |
| Type | Memorial Statue |
| Medium | Bronze |
| Location | Old Quad Ball State University |
| 40°11′54″N85°24′37″W / 40.198272°N 85.410278°W | |
| Website | www |
Beneficence is a 1937 bronze statue on the campus of Ball State University, located in Muncie, Indiana. The statue, by sculptor Daniel Chester French, is referred to as Benny by students.
In 1927 the Muncie Chamber of Commerce proposed the building of a memorial to express gratitude on behalf of Muncie and Ball State University for the Ball Brothers' extensive generosity to the community. The monetary value of the Balls' philanthropies in Muncie totaled $7 million by the time of the monument's completion in 1937. [1]
The Chamber commissioned renowned sculptor Daniel Chester French, who sculpted the statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. [2] The name Beneficence was chosen for the statue because it aptly described the feelings of the community and the actions of the Ball Brothers. French entrusted architect Richard Henry Dana to choose a location for the statue and to design the surrounding promenade. [3]
The price tag for Beneficence, completed in 1930, was approximately $50,000. The progress toward installation crawled during the Great Depression, as funds for the project became scarce. More than 11,000 individuals donated money to assist in the completion of the memorial, and Beneficence was dedicated on September 26, 1937. [4] Although the project was the last for French, neither he nor Dana lived to see its dedication. [5] The statue, affectionately known as Benny, symbolizes the selflessness of the five brothers in their service to the community. [6] It is so entwined in the university's culture that its image is part of the school seal.
Beneficence's hand stretches to welcome new students to campus. The treasure box she holds in her other arm represents the treasure education can offer. Her wings represent the flight into the world that take place when students graduate. The five Corinthian columns behind the statue represent the Ball Brothers, for whom the university is named. [7]
Beneficence resembles earlier examples of French's work such as Angel of the Waters, part of a memorial to businessman and philanthropist George Robert White located in the Boston Public Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, and The Spirit of Life , located in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Some students believe that one way to find one's true love is to sit under Benny and kiss him or her with closed eyes. If Benny's wings flap, then the love is true; if no flapping occurs, then the love is not meant to be. [8] Another myth suggests that the severed heads of each of the five Ball Brothers rest in individual urns on the top of the respective pillar; [9] however, all five brothers are buried at Beech Grove Cemetery in Muncie. [10] Another legend states that a female student is not officially a coed until she is kissed by a male student beneath the statue. [11] Another campus myth states if a virgin were to ever cross Benny's path she would come to life and fly away.
Muncie is an incorporated city and the seat of Delaware County, Indiana, United States. Previously known as Buckongahelas Town, named after the legendary Delaware Chief, it is located in East Central Indiana, about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Indianapolis. At the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 65,195, down from 70,085 in the 2010 Census. It is the principal city of the Muncie Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Delaware County. The city is also included in the Indianapolis–Carmel–Muncie, IN Combined Statistical Area.
Daniel Chester French was an American sculptor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He is best known for his 1874 sculpture The Minute Man in Concord, Massachusetts, and his 1920 monumental statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Benny Beaver is the official mascot of Oregon State University and winner of the 2011 Capital One Mascot of the Year write-in campaign. The exact date of when the name was first used as the university's mascot is not known, but photographs in the school's yearbook document its use as early as the 1940s.
Ball State University is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers and Indianapolis.
Henry Bacon was an American Beaux-Arts architect who oversaw the engineering and design of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., built between 1915 and 1922, which was his final project before his 1924 death.
Minnetrista Museum & Gardens was founded in 1988. Built on the legacy of the Ball family and company, Minnetrista is a 40-acre museum and garden site located on the White River in Muncie, Indiana. The organization presents exhibits, nature trails, educational programs, and community events.
The Ball brothers were five American industrialists and philanthropists who established a manufacturing business in New York and Indiana in the 1880s that was renamed the Ball Corporation in 1969. The Ball brothers' firm became a global manufacturer of plastic and metal food and beverage containers as well as a manufacturer of equipment and supplier of services to the aerospace industry. In addition to the brothers' manufacturing business, they were also noted for their philanthropy and community service. Earnings from their business ventures provided the financial resources to support a number of other projects in the community of Muncie, Indiana, and elsewhere. Most notably, the brothers became benefactors of several Muncie institutions including Ball State University, Ball Memorial Hospital, the YMCA, Ball stores department store, and Minnetrista. The Ball Brothers Foundation, established in 1926, continues the family's philanthropic interests.
Ball Corporation is an American company headquartered in Westminster, Colorado. It is best known for its early production of glass jars, lids, and related products used for home canning. Since its founding in Buffalo, New York, in 1880, when it was known as the Wooden Jacket Can Company, the Ball company has expanded and diversified into other business ventures, including aerospace technology. It eventually became the world's largest manufacturer of recyclable metal beverage and food containers.
Christy Woods is an arboretum and botanical garden located on the southwest corner of the Ball State University campus in Muncie, Indiana, with special focus on Indiana's native plants and ecosystems.
The History of Ball State University predates Ball State University's public-funding era by almost two decades. Previous educational institutions operated at the intersection of University and McKinley avenues before 1918. They were neither public nor did they carry the "Ball" name.
Indiana University Health Ball Memorial Hospital is an academic teaching hospital in the city of Muncie, Indiana. It is the only hospital in the city of Muncie, Indiana. It was founded by the Ball Brothers, hence the name, Ball Memorial Hospital. It is near the campus of Ball State University; however, it is affiliated with the Indiana University School of Medicine. The hospital was founded in 1929. It houses 3 residency programs/graduate medical education program including internal medicine, family medicine and a transitional year residency.
Alma Mater is a bronze sculpture by Daniel Chester French which is located on the steps of the Low Memorial Library on the campus of Columbia University, in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. French designed the statue in 1901, and it was installed in September 1903. It is a personification of the alma mater, which represents Columbia in its role as an educational institution; since its installation, the statue has become closely associated with the image of the university.
Lemuel Arthur "L. A." Pittenger is best known as being the 4th president of Ball Teachers College later known as Ball State University, as well as having Ball State University's student center named after him.
Frog Baby Fountain is a statue set in the middle of a fountain on the Ball State University campus. It is known as a sign of good luck and is a popular meeting place. The Frog Baby statue was cast by Edith Barretto Stevens Parsons in 1937 and has been moved several times prior to becoming what it is known as today. Frank C. Ball donated the statue to the university and it remained in the Ball State University Museum of Art until it became damaged by excessive rubbing by students, and was then packed away. In 1993, Frog Baby was restored and placed in a fountain where it resides today. The fountain is dedicated to Alexander Bracken, the son-in-law of Frank C. Ball, who was responsible for Ball State's rapid growth after World War II.
The David Owsley Museum of Art (DOMA) is a university art museum located in the Fine Arts building on the campus of Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, the United States of America. The museum's name was changed on October 6, 2011, from the Ball State Museum of Art to the David Owsley Museum of Art in honor of David T. Owsley, grandson of Frank C. Ball, to recognize his donation of over 2,300 works of art and planned gift of $5 million. Since departments within the Fine Arts Building relocated to other areas on Ball State's campus, the museum has expanded its galleries, beginning in early-mid-2012 and ending in 2013.
The Alexander M. Bracken Library is the main library on the campus of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Opened in September 1975 and designed by Walter Scholer and Associates and the Perkins and Will Partnership of Chicago, the 320,000-square-foot facility is located in the geographic center of the Ball State University campus and is distinguishable for its unique, Brutalist architecture.
Teachers College is an academic college of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Teachers College is housed in a 10-story, 138 feet (42 m) building which is the second tallest in Delaware County. It is home to six academic departments: Early Childhood, Youth, and Family Studies, Educational Leadership, Educational Psychology, Educational Studies, Elementary Education, and Special Education. It also houses the Office of the Dean and the Office of Teacher Education Services and Clinical Practice.
T.A. Chapman Memorial is a public artwork by American artist Daniel Chester French. It is located at 2405 W. Forest Home Ave., in the Forest Home Cemetery Section 33 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The bronze sculpture was cast in 1896. Its dimensions are 62 x 41 x 23 in. The concrete base it stands on is 13 ½ x 21 7/8 x 14 3/8 in.
Forest Idyl is a bronze statue created in 1924 by Albin Polasek while he was head of the Sculpture Department at the Art Institute of Chicago. There are several copies of the three versions of this sculpture, which are located at Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina; three in Winter Park, Florida, at the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens and at City Hall; and in Muncie, Indiana, at Ball State University.
Marquis de Lafayette is a monumental statue on the campus of Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. The statue, designed by Daniel Chester French and standing on a pedestal designed by Henry Bacon, was dedicated in 1921 in honor of the college's namesake, Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. The statue is located at the south entrance of Colton Chapel. It is one of a number of sculptures made by French for universities, which includes the statue of John Harvard at Harvard University and Alma Mater at Columbia University.
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