John Raimondi: Athleta

In 1989, Kearney State College (now the University of Nebraska at Kearney) invited 40 artists to submit applications for a sculpture outside the newly constructed Cushing Coliseum. John Raimondi replied with a concept: he would come to the campus as an artist-in-residence and develop his sculpture after observing student athletes.

He began by photographing various sports, such as swimming, volleyball, basketball, track and field, football, and baseball. This allowed him to isolate a motion from each athlete and identify what he calls “the aesthetic moment” of each sport.

In his on-campus studio, he combined several of these images to create a singular figure representing all student athletes. He named the resulting sculpture Athleta, a Latin word meaning “one who competes for a prize.” The 29-foot bronze figure conveys the kineticism of athletic motion from all directions. This exhibition features 13 of Raimondi’s photographic studies from the Museum’s permanent collection, providing a glimpse into the community engagement and creative process behind this notable public sculpture.