The permanent collection enables a daily encounter with the arts, opening us to what is challenging and beautiful.
“Roanoke College's permanent art collection is one of the most important symbols of palpable creativity. The collection is comprised of more than 1,300 works of art, ranging from the 19th century to works created by today's nationally and internationally acclaimed artists.”
— Michael C. Maxey, 11th President of Roanoke College
In Plain Sight
Art is everywhere on the Roanoke College campus. The collection is the living expression of our belief that encounters with art enrich daily living and that daily living deserves art.
Sandy Williams IV, Authors and Architects, 2025
Authors & Architects by Sandy Williams IV honors the legacies of the men, women, and children who were enslaved by Roanoke College founders between 1842 and 1865, recognizing the roles of enslaved people as creators and founders in the history of the college. Each of the names or identifications on this memorial, listed on the spines of the books, belonged to an enslaved person with specific ties to Roanoke College.
Alice Aycock, The Solar Wind, 1983
“In designing this piece, I was thinking of all the potential power that exists — what if there was this force that was neither bad nor good, but mindless — a kind of ray source of power.”
-Alice Aycock
Sam Van Aken, Tree of 40 Fruit, 2017
The Tree of 40 Fruit located in the Olin Hall Courtyard is a project by artist Sam Van Aken that is part artwork, part research, and part conservation effort. The Tree of 40 Fruit is a single grafted tree capable of growing over 40 different varieties of stone fruit, including peach, plum, apricot, nectarine, cherry, and almond.
Norma the Art Car
Norma is a 1992 Cadillac Brougham d’Elegance purchased by the Dorothea L. Leonhardt Foundation, Inc. to support programming for the Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo Center for Art at Roanoke College. Norma was sent to Los Angeles, California, to be “car bombed” by the well-known graffiti artist, Kenny Scharf.
Rob Wynne, Teardrops, 2015
Rob Wynne’s Teardrops appear once a year during Alumni Weekend “to represent everyone we have loved and lost — and with whom we have shared our remarkable Roanoke College experience”
-Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo