TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY
CAT NAP ON CAMPUS
A friendly bobcat has found a new home on top of Texas State University’s newest dorm Cibolo Hall. Artist Matthew Mazzotta was commissioned by the Texas State University System Committee of Public Art to install a permanent artwork in correlation to the opening of the Hilltop Housing Complex. His larger than life bobcat sculpture titled “Local Habitat” rests with a soft smile and a dangling paw at the entrance of the residence hall. Large-scale, realistic sculptures are nothing new to the artist, his Flamingos at the Tampa airport and the Palm Beach Election Offices have made national headlines. His art practice focuses on community specific public artworks, starting with research into what the location needs, desires, and how he can make an artwork that the community can resonate with. Mazzotta dove into research about TXST, the students and the city of San Marcos, focusing on the school’s mascot and how the students identify with the Bobcat.
“I think there’s an opportunity to show that the mascot or the bobcat has other dimensions,” Mazzotta said. “It’s known for its ferocity, its courage, and those are attributes we love in the sporting arena.”
But the Bobcat is multidimensional, and the sculpture is meant to give a more complete picture of the mascot, which also serves as a metaphor for student wellness.
“I give talks a lot at schools, and I talk to a lot of undergrads. And I talk about what’s important to them, and a lot of people talk about wellness, well being, respecting their whole life, not just their academic life. … We want the bobcat to be out there killing things and taking care of business, but it also needs to sleep. It also needs to chill,” Mazzotta said. “I see the students in the same way. They have to kill it at school, but they also have to chill. They also have to sleep. They have to take care of themselves.”
Even the location and posture of the sculpture was thought through with intention. Mazzotta leaned into the building itself, designing an artwork that complements the architecture, that intervenes with the building as well as the students who live there. Details in the sculpture like the gentle smile and the placement of the bobcat up high represent the real life nature of bobcats sleeping in trees. The relaxed smile represents the students’ need for safety and relaxation in their home away from home at the dorms.
Mental health and student wellbeing was a big focus during the research and development of this sculpture, but ecology was also important to Mazzotta. He found articles stating sightings of bobcats and other animals returning to public spaces during COVID.
“We do live together. We have a shared plan,” Mazzotta said. “This is just bringing nature into the forefront in this particular story, where it’s showing the bobcat is part of our lives, even though we don’t see the bobcats all the time. But they do live with us.”
To make work at such a large scale takes a team of talented professionals, including fabricators, project managers, digital rendering specialists and many more that bring Mazzotta’s vision to life. The artist runs a studio where he collaborates with his team from start to finish, but it all starts with a sketch in Mazzotta’s notebook. The project grows, expanding the ideas digitally in photoshop and other rendering softwares to get 3D models and visualizations of the work in its environment. Using a software called Zbrush, Mazzotta and his team sculpt the work digitally, adding textures until it’s ready to be sent over to physical fabrication. Mazzotta’s team collaborated with Smash Designs in Houston where they cut out blocks of foam using a seven axis router, which is essentially a robot arm that cuts out the design. After the design is cut, they apply a hard coat and then finish by coloring the sculpture with automotive paint. The bobcat was loaded up on a trailer and driven to San Marcos where a crane lifted it up to its official home, perched on top of Cibolo Hall.
Follow Matthew Mazzotta’s work on instagram at @matthewmazzotta or visit his website at matthewmazzotta. com. He has new works unveiling soon in Fort Worth, Denver and at the San Diego airport. One can also find a link to his viral TED talk on his website. Keep up to date on new public artworks at Texas State University on the public art committee instagram at @ the_tsus.
