Trustees to dedicate sculpture of famous composer, IU alumnus

When looking at a list of famous IU alumni, certain names stick out to most Hoosiers. There’s Mark Spitz the Olympic swimmer, Ernie Pyle the famous war journalist and Jared Fogle the Subway guy. But what about Hoagy Carmichael?

One name – Hoagy Carmichael – is often forgotten despite his legacy in Bloomington. Carmichael composed “Georgia on my Mind” and “The Nearness of You,” had multiple television shows and hung out with old-Hollywood stars such as Fred Astaire.

However, the Bloomington native and IU graduate tends to get overlooked.

This Thursday, Carmichael will be the focus of attention at the dedication of the Hoagy Carmichael Landmark Sculpture, a bronze life-size piece that will have a permanent home on the northeast side of the IU Auditorium.

Sculptor Michael McAuley first learned about Carmichael when he was a student at IU.

“I was born and raised in Bloomington, much like Hoagy,” McAuley said. “You had to be in a certain niche to know about Hoagy. Professors mentioned him, and I saw him on film. I became aware of him while I was at IU, but there was no tribute to him in Bloomington.”

McAuley left Bloomington to further his career in art but returned to Bloomington years later. Upon his return, McAuley visited the Carmichael Center, on the corner of Indiana and Kirkwood avenues, and saw it was the only tribute to the famous composer.

“Everyone sees the Carmichael sign but still doesn’t know who he was,” McAuley said. “After I walked inside of the Carmichael Center, I didn’t see a plaque or even a Xerox copy of who the center was named after.”

McAuley said he decided Bloomington needed to pay homage to Carmichael, and he should be the one to do it.

But a big project such as the sculpture requires a lot of support and money, which did not come easily. McAuley was the leader in fundraising, but he also had to find a committee, design a Web site and write grants to publicize the sculpture.

“One person had to keep leading the process in and out of stumbling blocks that were inevitable in a project of this type,” McAuley said. “Arts are looked on fondly, but they’re always the first to get cut in funding.”

McAuley and his committee raised about $145,000 for the project, but McAuley also put in a personal donation.

With enough money, McAuley crafted the sculpture, which features Carmichael sitting at a piano working on a half-written composition with a pencil tucked behind his ear.

“I made a sculpture to show who this man was.” McAuley said. “I wanted it to be a learning experience because it’s on campus. You see a story. You don’t just say, ‘Oh what a pretty sculpture.’ You may not know his name is Hoagy Carmichael, but you look at him and see he is a composer.”

Prior to making its home on IU’s campus, the sculpture recently completed a 16-city tribute tour throughout Indiana.

“There was an educational component of this tour,” said Mark Skirvin, the senior director of outreach programs for the IU Alumni Association. “McAuley was the driving force behind it. We would take it to various cities and have a social event around it.”

Skirvin said some stops featured the Singing Hoosiers performing some of Carmichael’s songs.

Secretary of the Board of Trustees Robin Roy Gress said several different places were looked at before IU as the final spot for the sculpture, including Peoples Park, McAuley’s first choice. However, the space near the auditorium was finally chosen because of IU’s track record of taking care of bronze sculptures.

“IU is pleased to able to provide a place for it because of the role of Hoagy Carmichael in music and the state,” Gress said.

Skirvin agreed the sculpture is important to have on campus because of Carmichael’s influence.

“Carmichael was one of the most-recorded American songwriters in the history of American recordings,” Skirvin said. “At one point in his life he was as famous as any of the current stars you would see in Hollywood today. He was an alum who made a big impact on American culture.”

Like Skirvin, McAuley said he hopes IU students learn from the Carmichael sculpture that higher learning helped his talents and his legacy.

“I want them to see this man’s story,” McAuley said. “I hope they see the work ethic, and when they come on to campus, they’re reminded that passion, vision and love for your craft combined with work ethic can have an indelible mark on history.”



Hoagy Carmichael sculpture dedication ceremony
WHEN: 5 p.m. Thursday
WHERE: IU Auditorium
MORE INFO: President Michael McRobbie, Provost and Executive Vice President Karen Hanson and sculptor Michael Livingston McAuley will be speaking.