June 16, 2022

This paid piece is sponsored by TSP.

Of the 635 members of the Augustana University Class of 2022 — 416 bachelor’s degrees and 219 master’s degrees — only two individuals were wearing the Harold Spitznagel Medal for Achievement in Art on graduation day last month.

The Spitznagel Medal is the most significant award presented by the Augustana Art Department to students who demonstrate the highest standards of excellence in all artistic endeavors during their Augustana careers. In some years, no medals are presented; and in others, multiple medals can be awarded. Prior to this year, the Spitznagel Medal had not been awarded since 2018.

Alexa Lammers and Gracie Rothering each received the medal during the opening reception of the Augustana Senior Show and Bachelor of Fine Arts Thesis Portfolio Exhibition in April.

Lammers, of Hartington, Nebraska, graduated in May with a double major in studio art and all-grades education. Her upcoming plans include teaching art in a school setting and pursuing a master’s degree. While she enjoys all forms of art, drawing and painting are her areas of emphasis.

“Art not only challenges me to be open to feeling my own emotions, but also to be open to the perspectives of the world around me,” Lammers said. “While these things are not always comfortable, art highlights the beauty, the opportunity, and the connectedness that can come from sharing our expression and emotion with one another.”

Rothering received a bachelor’s degree in fine arts. She’ll attend the University of Oregon to pursue a master’s in fine arts, and she eventually plans to teach at the college level. Rothering, who’s from Cochrane, Wisconsin, had various mediums on display at Augustana’s senior show including sculptures, but most of her work involves photography.

The namesake of Augustana’s highest award for art students was born in Sioux Falls in 1896. Harold Spitznagel earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania in 1925. In 1930, he returned to Sioux Falls to establish his one-man practice. Spitznagel quickly developed numerous friendships and lasting business relationships.

Many of those long-term relationships were built on the Augustana campus, where Spitznagel’s first project at Augustana involved a master planning effort in 1945.

Various campus buildings that Spitznagel’s firm designed have since been renovated by the company he started, which now goes by the name TSP – or The Spitznagel Partners. The Froiland Science Complex is among these legacy projects. In partnership with SmithGroup, TSP worked to expand and renovate the TSP-designed Gilbert Science Center to create the Froiland Science Complex, a state-of-the-art instructional and research facility. Also on the list are Morrison Commons, the Humanities Building, Mikkelsen Library, the President’s Residence, and others.

Over the years TSP has grown to a multidisciplinary firm with architecture, engineering, planning, and interior design expertise within a single company. All told, it has collaborated on more than 150 projects at Augustana University.

Spitznagel’s strong connection to the art world and his friendship with Augustana art professors Ogden Dalrymple, Palmer Eide, Robert Aldern, and Carl Grupp provided the lasting inspiration for an award to recognize outstanding students for achievement in art.

“I think they all really just admired Harold’s belief that art and architecture should go together,” said John Peters, Eide/Dalrymple Gallery Coordinator and Sculpture/3-D Design Instructor at Augustana University. “That’s just an ideal that I think we all still want to pursue.”

Photo courtesy Augustana University.

Dalrymple, a sculptor, designed the cast for the original medal. The front side of the medallion incorporates the religious symbolism of the Old and New Testaments. The Shield of David, or equilateral triangle, denotes the Holy Trinity. The cross is the Sign of Christ, and the circle, triangle, and square are basic art forms. The reverse side depicts the “Tools of the Master Builder,” or the traditional instruments used by architects.

The first Spitznagel Medal was presented in 1959 to Bob Walton, who is also a member of the Augustana Athletic Hall of Fame.

The award remains significant after more than 60 years, Peters said, because the Augustana faculty recognizes it is a symbol of excellence in the visual arts.

Rothering agrees, noting that the Augustana Art Department is instrumental in helping students create compelling artwork.

“So, to have this award still around, it really symbolizes something great,” she said. “We have this award because students deserve it. They are creating incredible things and will continue to create incredible things.”

Harold Spitznagel died in April 1975, but his legacy of architectural imagery, strong leadership, and community involvement have remained strong.

Because the Spitznagel Medal is not presented annually, or even regularly, awareness of the high honor is generally limited to what students hear from their professors.

“When we talk about awards to students, it’s usually purchase awards from the senior art show or there are a lot of different scholarships related to art and we make decisions on that,” Peters said.

“The Spitznagel Medal is really a special one. The faculty have to really think about whether or not we want to give out the award, and we also want current students to be aware that this award exists.”

Those conversations take place in the spring when works are reviewed and selected for the final senior exhibition, at which time faculty can consider students for the Spitznagel Medal.

For his part, Peters makes a point to tell his students about the Medal every year by sharing a story from his undergraduate days at Augustana.

Peters was enrolled in a Design 1 course taught by Ogden Dalrymple and near the end of the first semester, Dalrymple showed the medallion to the class, telling them they might receive the award someday if they were good enough.

“It was an awe kind of thing,” he said. “Like wow, that would be so cool.”