The Oracle's Tears Sculpture

Artist Rodger Mack spent 34 years of his career at Syracuse University, first as a professor of sculpture and later as the first director of the School of Art and Design in VPA. Mack notes that his works typically began as drawings, often as his “stream of consciousness.” One description of his work explains that the lyricism of his line is countered by the incorporation of found objects with worn, abraded surfaces and rough, emotionally raw elements of metal scrap that suggest the pressures of time and the implacable cycling of the seasons. In 1991, Mack received the Chancellor’s Citation for Exceptional Academic Achievement, and in 1999 he received an Outstanding Faculty Award from the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Rodger A. Mack was born November 8, 1938 in Barberton, Ohio. He attended the Cleveland Institute of Art majoring in industrial design. Initially, Mack wanted to pursue a career in car design, after a summer job at General Motors the role was significantly different than he had envisioned. He chose to forgo that path and instead completed his degree in 1961. Then in 1963 he received his Master of Fine Arts with a concentration in sculpture from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. Mack received a Fulbright Scholarship after graduating, which allowed him to spend a year in Florence, Italy to continue his art education. There he gained knowledge in multiple casting techniques and created sixteen cast bronze sculptures through the Bruno Bearzi Foundry. After returning from Florence, Mack was invited by the governor of Arkansas to help develop the Arkansas Art Center, including a Bachelor of Fine Arts program. This successful program lasted four years before Mack chose to pursue other endeavors. Mack was hired In 1968 by Syracuse University as a sculpture professor. He earned tenure in1971 and spent the next two decades developing the sculpture program. Between 1982 and 1991 Mack served as the director of the University’s School of Art and Design in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Mack was an integral part in creating Comstock Art Facility, a place where sculpture students could work together in a cohesive space. He developed a lasting reputation within the University, in addition to being considered one of most important bronze sculptors in the country. The University officially recognized his contributions by awarding him theChancellor’s Citation for Exceptional Academic Achievement in 1991 and an Outstanding Faculty Award from the College of Visual and Performing Arts in 1999.

Mack was best known for his large-scale bronze and steel sculptures. The artist pulled inspiration for his sculptures from everyday experiences, such as finding creative expression in anything from musical compositions to the lighting on an object. Throughout his lifetime Mack exhibited his work both nationally and internationally, and his sculptures were purchased by many museums, including the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse and the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute in Utica, New York. He also had a large number of solo exhibitions in New York City. Mack’s last large public commission was permanently installed at the New York State Fair Grounds in July 2002. Titled Missing in Action, it is a monolithic bronze sculpture memorializing lost soldiers. Rodger Mack passed away in Syracuse on September 16, 2002.

SU University Archives; Buckley, M. (2017). "Explore the SU campus through these 6 historic statues." Daily Orange; Renowned sculptor Rodger Mack dies after long illness. (2002, September 18). SU News; SU Photo and Imaging Archive; Credit to Liam Sheehan, Asst. Photo Editor at Daily Orange.