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"Sparty" Statue

USA / Michigan / East Lansing /
 statue, landmark
"Sparty" is the mascot of the Michigan State University athletic teams; a male Spartan warrior dressed in stylized Greek costume. The opriginal Spartan statue on the MSU campus dates to 1943, when art professor Leonard D. Jungwirth designed a bronze statue. Instead, his design was fabricated in terra cotta because of the World War II metal shortage. In the early 21st century the university replaced Jungwirth's original statue with a bronze duplicate, moving the original indoors.

Sparty appears in several other incarnations. In printed literature, the university uses a copyrighted cartoon Spartan, usually drawn with a grimace and several days worth of whiskers, lending the nickname of "Gruff" Sparty. Finally, Sparty appears as a foam rubber mascot with an oversized head. The mascot costume, worn by an anonymous student, appears at most university sporting, alumni, and fundraising events; he is often portrayed in MSU notices and materials.

The costumed Sparty won the "Best Mascot National Championship" at the Universal Cheer Association/Universal Dance Association College Nationals, in 2004, 2005, and 2007.

The MSU Drumline performs at the statue on game days. It's one of those special sounds of a Saturday in the fall on the banks of the Red Cedar:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzs5gIM0wdY

And here's Sparty's 2006 entry in the UCA competition:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJoGDWgfZaI
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparty
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   42°43'51"N   84°29'15"W

Comments

  • Bill45000 (guest)
    http://www.lansingcitypulse.com/020821/020821cover.html Is “Sparty” really a Hitler youth? Sparty sculptor Leo Jungwirth’s daughter, Ayers, believes her father’s stay in Germany from 1929 to 1933 had an influence on his artwork. He’d told her about running into Nazi troops and about the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, whom he’d seen on two occasions. She told City Pulse about a Nazi knife he’d brought back from Germany. “He told me it had dried blood on it, but I don’t know if it did. I guess it was rusty.” In 1929, Jungwirth attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. Nine years earlier Adolf Hitler had founded the Nazi party in Munich’s Hofbräuhaus. As Jungwirth arrived, they had just started to rally in the city, which they would later call “Capital of the Movement.” They campaigned intensely, adopting the slogan “Munich Must Again Become the Hope of Germany,” to win the municipal elections in December. Two thousand paramilitary troops marched through the city during one campaign. The party also mounted 20 rallies in Munich beer halls, with Hitler scurrying from rally to rally. The Munich streets had become a stage for violent political confrontation when 29-year old Jungwirth visited the home of his family. Was he excited to see this new German fascist leader, like many of his generation?... The Academy of Fine Arts was located in Schwabing, the old bohemian quarter that Hitler favored, and where disgruntled artists joined students, teachers, civil servants, and white-collar workers in placing their faith in the failed painter from Austria. Although the Academy building was badly damaged in a bomb attack during WWII, a catalog of the 1932 Munich Art Exhibition lists two sculptures under Leonard Jungwirth’s name, including “Die Bäuerin” (wood) and “Pieta” (plaster). A 1996 MSU exhibition about Sparty and the Figurative Tradition in Sculpture acknowledges that “Jungwirth’s Munich years may have been significant in the development of his idea of ‘The Spartan.’” The exhibit pointed out that Jungwirth probably visited Munich’s famous museums, where major works of Greek and Roman sculpture —some of them athletes and warriors — were on display. However, it failed to mention the transformation of Munich during that time into an open-air museum of National Socialism or what influence that might have had on Jungwirth. THIS IMPORTANT BACKGROUND IS NOT MENTIONED IN ANY MSU BROCHURES OR PUBLICATIONS…
This article was last modified 15 years ago