What is the history of Robert I. Smithsons Partially Buried Woodshed located on the Kent campus?
In 1970, artist Robert I. Smithson created the Partially Buried Woodshed at the corner of Summit Street and Rhodes Road. Considered a pioneer of the “earth-art movement,” Smithson used a bulldozer to pile a heap of dirt against an abandoned woodshed and formed what would become one of Kent State’s most recognizable and controversial pieces of art, valued anywhere from $10,000 by Smithson himself to $40,000 by the KSU School of Art to $250,000 according to a gallery in New York. An unidentified arsonist burned part of the shed in 1975, and in 1984 the structure was removed permanently from campus. More information is available in the Smithson Inventory.
