Gift completes Stuart collection

With the gift, announced Wednesday, of nine major artworks valued at $8 million, UC San Diego now owns the entire 15-piece collection commissioned by the Stuart Foundation and installed on the university’s sprawling campus over the last 22 years.

The foundation donated six of the works to the university upon their completion, in compliance with funding arrangements, but retained possession of the other works.

The recent gift fulfills the wishes of art philanthropist James Stuart DeSilva, who established the foundation’s collection in 1981 and died last year.

Known as the Stuart Collection, the critically acclaimed artworks are ambitious pieces, specifically designed for campus sites under the guidance of a professional advisory committee. They range from Alexis Smith’s 560-foot-long “Snake Path,” made of slate tiles, to Bruce Nauman’s “Vices and Virtues,” a flashing neon work that spells out seven vices and seven virtues in 7-foot-tall letters around the top of a building.

Suzanne Muchnic