News from Grand Valley State University
The Raleigh J. Finkelstein and President Emeritus Arend "Don" Lubbers sculpture is pictured outside the Fieldhouse Arena. The building contains the wording: Raleigh J. Finkelstein Athletic Village

A monument to friendship and legacy: Sculpture of Finkelstein and Lubbers honors shared GVSU connection

A new sculpture outside the Fieldhouse Arena honors the bond between longtime GVSU supporter Raleigh J. Finkelstein and President Emeritus Arend "Don" Lubbers as well as their connection to GVSU.

The multi-year process to create the sculpture started with understanding the friendship and shared vision for Grand Valley that Finkelstein and Lubbers share, and then moved on to detailed step-by-step work that kept growing in scale.

Learn more about the sculpture and see how it was created in this photo essay.

A closeup of a person working on a scale model of a sculpture.
Artist J Brett Grill works inside his Grand Rapids studio on a maquette (scale model) of the sculpture.
Two people are working on a sculpture in progress. Some parts are in styrofoam, while others are in clay. They are in an art studio.
Artist J Brett Grill, top, works with artist Isaac Dell on a “foam enlargement” of the sculpture inside Grill’s Grand Rapids studio. A 3D file was made from scanning the maquette and was used to mill a styrofoam version at full-scale. Clay was placed over the styrofoam.
Two people remove a covering to reveal a sculpture of two people sitting on a bench.
GVSU basketball athletes MacKenzie Bisballe and Shamus Thompson officially unveil the sculpture.

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