Facewall

Marek Walczak & Wesley Heiss, 2016

Facewall by Walczak & Heiss is an 11-foot-high by 42-foot-wide stainless steel sculpture integrated into the Second Street facade of the new Arts and Humanities building. Made up of 987 faces, the artwork includes profiles of students, faculty, staff and community members, reflecting the diversity of Chico State and the surrounding community.

“We felt that the idea of inclusivity should be key to the creation of our artwork,” the artists wrote in their project proposal. “We liked the notion of a totem. Totems are symbols for a family or a tribe and the figures themselves are representations of a community. In many ways, Facewall is about reflecting the vibrant community that makes up Chico. We hope that these individuals will stand like totems on the facade of the Arts and Humanities building, quietly watching over the equally diverse group of people who will see it every day.”

Walczak & Heiss is an interactive civic-art design collaborative based in New York City and Pennsylvania. Partners Marek Walczak and Wesley Heiss have collaborated since 2007 and have been awarded numerous public art projects.

To locate or identify a specific profile on Facewall, visit facewall.me(opens in new window).

For more information about the artists, visit their website: walczakheiss.com(opens in new window).