Southern Illinois University Edwardsville campus and surrounding community members and honored guests celebrated R. Buckminster Fuller’s remarkable legacy in the region on Friday-Saturday, Nov. 9-10 during “Bucky Weekend.”
Two generations of the visionary inventor’s family attended an opening reception for the Center for Spirituality and Sustainability’s new Fuller Dome Gallery at SIUE on Friday, Nov. 9. The special guests included Fuller’s daughter, 91-year-old Allegra Fuller-Snyder, his granddaughter Alexandra Snyder-May, and her spouse Sam May.
“This reception marks a significant moment in which the Estate of Buckminster Fuller, the Southern Illinois University system and the Center for Spirituality and Sustainability were able to unite in the Fuller Dome at SIUE to honor and work to continue the legacy of Buckminster Fuller,” said Ben Lowder, creative consultant at Fuller Dome SIUE and board member on the Fuller Dome Home at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
The opening reception featured an exhibition of a selection of images from Buckminster Fuller’s art print portfolio entitled Inventions: Twelve Around One. The print portfolio was gifted to the Center for Spirituality and Sustainability in 2017 by the Estate of Buckminster Fuller, and was received into the SIUE University Museum collection in cooperation with the SIUE Foundation.
The important set of art prints, produced in 1981, features 13 of Buckminster Fuller’s most significant inventions presented as drawings, as well as photo-silkscreen prints of models and final constructions. The framing of the Fuller art prints and the creation of the Fuller Dome Gallery was made possible through a grant from the SIUE Meridian Society.
Upon seeing the donated prints hanging in the new gallery, Fuller-Snyder said, “It looks gorgeous! Bucky’s prints are very much at home here.”
Before cutting the symbolic red ribbon to officially open the exhibition space, several featured speakers shared their gratitude for Fuller’s work and the impact his philosophy has had in their lives.
SIUE University Museum Collections Manager Erin Vigneau-Dimick thanked Fuller-Snyder and the Fuller estate for their generous gift to the University Museum, and spoke about how the beautiful prints would be available for generations to come at this site, which is significant to Fuller’s legacy.
“The Fuller Dome Gallery will create an opportunity for the Center for Spirituality and Sustainability and the University Museum to curate exhibits detailing Fuller’s accomplishments and legacy, as well as exhibits of artistic and cultural artifacts for the University and larger community,” Vigneau-Dimick said.
On Saturday, Nov. 10, Fuller admirers and enthusiasts joined Lowder and Vigneau-Dimick, along with members of the Fuller family, on a tour of local Buckminster Fuller Geodesic domes. Included in the tour was a luncheon with an informative lecture about the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Climatron. The tour concluded with a visit to the Ruth Asawa Exhibition at St. Louis’ Pulitzer Arts Foundation. Asawa was one of Fuller’s students.
“The St. Louis region and extending across the river into Southern Illinois is the richest area in the world for built structures referencing Buckminster Fuller’s legacy,” explained Lowder. “Fuller’s local connections are still visible with domes such as the Fuller Dome and the Climatron at the Missouri Botanical Garden. This speaks to his impact in terms of design and philosophy.”
Buckminster Fuller was a professor at Southern Illinois University from 1960 to 1974. He designed the Fuller Dome for the SIUE campus with his architectural partner Shoji Sadao. The dome opened in 1971.
The Center for Spirituality and Sustainability is a nonprofit multi-faith home for spirituality and sustainability efforts housed in the Buckminster Fuller Dome on the SIUE campus.
Photos: Attendees at the Fuller Dome Gallery opening enjoy the exhibition of R. Buckminster Fuller’s art print portfolio entitled Inventions: Twelve Around One.
Participating in the ribbon cutting for the new Fuller Dome Gallery are (L-R) University Museum Collections Manager Erin Vigneau-Dimick, SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook, Allegra Fuller-Snyder, President of the Center for Spirituality and Sustainability Board Betsy Slosar, SIUE College of Arts and Sciences Dean Greg Budzban, and Board Member of the Fuller Dome Home Ben Lowder.
Fuller admirers and enthusiasts explored the Union Tank Car dome in Wood River, Ill., a 384-ft wide by 12-ft high geodesic dome, built in 1961.