Delta Dental, UW-Stevens Point Collaborate on Sculpture to Mark Company’s 50th Anniversary UW-SP students design, oversee construction and installation
Contact: Kit Kiefer, Corporate Communications Manager, 800-236-3713, kkiefer@deltadentalwi.com
STEVENS POINT, Wis. (Oct. 30, 2012) – Delta Dental of Wisconsin President and CEO Den Brown marked the company’s 50th anniversary today by unveiling a sculpture designed by University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point art students.
The sculpture, comprised of stainless-steel-and-colored-glass “smiles” on a polished-concrete base, commemorates employees’ contributions to Delta Dental’s success while helping the company foster closer ties with the university and support its students.
In commissioning the piece, Delta Dental established an endowment that provides a $1,000 annual scholarship to an art student, given in Delta Dental’s name. Art students in turn designed and helped construct the sculpture.
“The sculpture project is a win all around,” said Dennis Peterson, Delta Dental’s executive vice president. “Our employees get a wonderful piece of artwork, the students get invaluable experience and class credit, and the university benefits through the establishment of a scholarship fund.”
An advisory committee of Delta Dental employees representing all departments within the organization formulated ideas for a sculpture and worked with the students on creating and placing a piece.
Construction work began in August 2012.
The sculpture in the company’s courtyard uses stainless-steel rings within the “smiles” capped with colored glass and oriented to the sun in such a way that it combines colored light with texture to create a compelling visual impression regardless of season or time of day (or night – the sculpture is lit with LEDs).
The piece rests on a polished-concrete pedestal and is surrounded by a landscaping ring made of lighter-colored concrete. Swirls of colored concrete complete the installation.
Professor Bill McKee taught the summer class that created the sculpture. The piece was primarily designed by Stephanie Jones (Fine Arts major, Stevens Point, Wis.), with design and construction assistance from Jeff Tomlinson (Fine Arts major, Stevens Point, Wis.), Codey Stange (Fine Arts major, Colby, Wis.), and Wei Zuo (Graphic Design major, Sichuan, China).
“We are grateful to Delta Dental for their support of UW-Stevens Point’s College of Fine Arts and Communication (COFAC) and its students,” said Jeff Morin, dean of COFAC. “Collaborations like these not only benefit the university, but illustrate the special relationship the community has with the university and its students.”
Delta Dental of Wisconsin is a not-for-profit dental service corporation offering benefit services, claims processing, and plan administration to employers throughout Wisconsin since 1962. The company is headquartered in Stevens Point, with sales offices in Milwaukee and Madison, and provides benefits and services to more than 1.4 million subscribers and their family members. Delta Dental administers dental benefits for more Wisconsin companies than any other insurance carrier.
As a member of the nationwide Delta Dental Plans Association, the company is able to offer employees of Wisconsin-based companies the same dental benefits to wherever they are located in the United States. The Delta Dental Plans Association is the largest dental-benefits system in the nation. Its member companies provide benefits to more than 51 million people in 93,600 employer groups across the United States.
About the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point College of Fine Arts and Communication
The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point was founded in 1894 and currently enrolls 9,477 students. The university is consistently named one of the top Public Midwestern Master Degree-Granting Universities by U.S. News and World Report. UW-Stevens Point offers 100 undergraduate program choices, 13 graduate programs and 58 majors in four colleges: the College of Fine Arts and Communication, College of Letters and Science, College of Natural Resources and the College of Professional Studies.
The College of Fine Arts and Communication offers a variety of majors in the departments of art and design, communication, music and theatre and dance. It is the only university in Wisconsin accredited by all four professional associations: the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, National Association of Schools of Dance, National Association of Schools of Music and National Association of Schools of Theatre.
