Seed sower

            
            
            
            
            
             Paul Moore's Seed Sower is perhaps the most influential sculpture on the University of Oklahoma campus. Moore, an Oklahoma native and the University's Sculptor-in-Residence, was commissioned with the difficult task of transforming a two dimensional University seal into three dimensional art. Moore was certainly up to the task.
             Familiarity with the University's official Seal is needed before one can understand Moore's sculpture. OU's first President, David Ross Boyd, wanted an official seal. The idea of a humble man sowing seeds came from a biblical parable Boyd referenced during a chapel talk. The original design was made by George Bucklin, and a Professor Paxton offered the Latin motto "Civiet Reipublicae", translated as "For the Citizens and of the State".
             The simple notion of "Sowing the seeds of knowledge" while profound, only scratches the surface of Moore's work. The scale of the piece, the placement on campus, and Moore's incorporation of Boyd himself, all combine to capture and enhance the essence of the official University Seal, indeed, Moore transforms it into art. .
             The sculpture's prominent placement, at the entrance to the University's south oval, is itself symbolic. Directly below and behind the Seed Sower are beautiful flower beds. It is as if the Sower had just spread his seed on the garden and created a masterpiece of beauty and diversity. When the flowers are changed with the seasons, it seems to indicate that knowledge and learning must be dynamic and adapt to a changing world.
             But that is the easy part. What about that Latin motto, "For the Citizens and of the State," how does Moore provide context for written words? I think the humble man sowing his seeds of knowledge in the original seal design must have represented the University. Moore cleverly "put a face on the University," by making the Sower's face that of David Ross Boyd. Then by casting the Seed Sower on a grand, larger than life scale and placing it on a pedestal high above the pedestrian traffic below, he transforms the statue itself into the State of Oklahoma.