Stillman Sculpture Court

On the grounds of The Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts, east of the museum, visitors will find a place for reflection in the Stillman Sculpture Court. The space opened to the public on October 12, 2016 with a ribbon cutting welcoming three works of art: Seedlings by Marvin Nelson, as well as The Sower and Threshold by Jane DeDecker. Larry and Liane Stillman have supported the museum through acquisitions to the court since SUMA was just an idea. 

In 2019, the museum received funding from Iron County, the Stillman Family, and SUU to transform the space into a beautiful garden for all to enjoy. Larry Stillman unexpectedly passed in August of that year, but Liane and her family have continued this legacy project with passion and commitment.

“We wanted to create a space dedicated to many variations of the human form: showing a variety of emotion, ages, activities, body types, attire, and cultures,” Liane described in a vision statement for the selection of the remaining pieces. “We wanted to do this through a wide variety of artists’ interpretations of humans, thereby creating a rich range of viewpoints.” 

Together with SUMA Executive Director Jessica Kisney, Liane and her family selected four pieces to complete the collection: Pastoral Dreamer by David Phelps, Conversation with Myself by Lorri Acott, Jubilation by Nnamdi Okonkwo, and Raindrops by Allan Houser. These recent acquisitions not only complete the space but more importantly they bring to the permanent collection different voices and representations that more fully embody the diversity on our campus and within our community. 

Special thanks to the Stillman family, Southern Utah University, Cedar Band Corporation, Allan Houser Inc., Cedar Livestock & Heritage Festival, Friends of SUMA, and Iron County for their financial support, and SUU Facilities Management for their physical efforts in completing the Stillman Sculpture Court.