New Art on Campus

University of Texas adds two iconic Sol LeWitt pieces to Landmarks art collection

Landmarks, the University of Texas’ curated public art program, has just landed two high-profile pieces from the late conceptual and minimalist artist Sol LeWitt. Circle with Towers and Drawing #520 will be added to the Landmarks collection, to be displayed in the entrance and auditorium of the Bill & Melinda Gates Computer Science Complex and Dell Computer Science Hall.

"Sol LeWitt is one of the truly great artists to have emerged from minimalism and conceptualism in the arts," Douglas Dempster, dean of the college of fine arts, said in a statement.

Circle with Towers was acquired from Madison Square Park Conservancy in New York.

Dempster described the pieces as "perfect, post-modern celebrations of the promise and future of computer science." He said Circle with Towers and Drawing #520 are "among the very most important art acquisitions in the university’s vast holdings."

Circle with Towers stands 14 feet tall and spans 25 feet. The eight towers are arranged as a meeting ground for the public. The piece was acquired from Madison Square Park Conservancy in New York.

Drawing #520 was acquired directly from DeWitt’s estate, and its forthcoming display will be the first in 25 years, when it was a part of the Whitney Museum of Art’s 1987 Whitney Biennial.

"Circle with Towers and Wall Drawing #520 provide an important introduction to the nature of conceptual art for many in our community," Landmarks director Andrée Bober said in a statement. "Having these two works in close proximity allows viewers to recognize the consistent elements in LeWitt’s work and appreciate the collaborative spirit and contextual interpretations of his ideas."

LeWitt, considered to be the founder of the conceptual and minimalist postwar art movements, was known for his geometric, three-dimensional structures of varying sizes and for the more than 1,200 drawings he completed. Although his dedication to rendering art in its most basic shapes and colors made him a celebrity of sorts in the art world, he was known for being a reclusive, rarely seen creator.

"[LeWitt’s] work exhibits classic virtues of high art — beauty, precision, mastery of materials, economy of means, signature inspiration — while at the same time being completely iconoclastic and playful," Dempster said.

Circle with Tower by Sol LeWitt.

Photo by Mark Menjivar

Circle with Tower by Sol LeWitt.

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Holiday Travel News

American Airlines briefly halts flights nationwide for technical issue

Photo courtesy of American Airlines

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American Airlines briefly grounded flights nationwide Tuesday due to a technical issue just as the Christmas travel season kicks into high gear.

American flights were cleared to fly by federal regulators about one hour after a national ground stop order was issued by federal regulators.

Just before 8 am Dallas time, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered all American Airlines flights grounded in the U.S. at the airline’s request. American had reported a technical issue affecting its entire system with millions traveling for the holiday.
The ground stop, according to the time stamps on the FAA's orders, lasted exactly one hour.

American has not expanded on what technical issue grounded the flights and the airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The groundings couldn't come at a worse time for the millions of travelers expected to fly over the next 10 days. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 40 million passengers over the holidays and through January 2.

Many flights during the holidays are sold out, which makes cancellations even more disruptive than during slower periods. Even with just a brief outage, the cancellations have a cascading effect that can take days to clear up.

In December 2022, Southwest Airlines stranded 2 million travelers, and Delta Air Lines suffered a smaller but significant meltdown after a worldwide technology outage in July caused by a faulty software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.

Southwest was ordered to pay a $35 million fine as part of a $140 million settlement to resolve a federal investigation into the Christmas debacle of 2022.

Excluding the settlement, the nation’s fourth-biggest airline by revenue said the meltdown cost it more than $1.1 billion in refunds and reimbursements, extra costs and lost ticket sales over several months.

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