SMU officials great the Calatrava family at "Wave" near the Meadows Museum. (left to right) SMU Provost Paul Ludden; Michael Calatrava (son); Tina Calatrava (wife); Santiago Calatrava; SMU President R. Gerald Turner; Meadows Museum Director Mark A. Roglan; Vice President for Development and External Affairs Brad E. Cheves.
Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge architect Santiago Calatrava and his family were welcomed to SMU when he visited the Meadows Museum after taking part in bridge opening ceremonies. Calatrava, his wife, Tina, and his son, Michael, enjoyed a preview of the Meadows exhibition, “Calatrava and SMU: A Decade in Motion,” and spoke to guests.
In 1999, long before Dallas’ newest bridge was built, Calatrava was commissioned to create “Wave” for Meadows Museum. The perpetually moving sculpture, installed in 2002, is Calatrava’s first large-scale sculpture installed in the United States.
Calatrava received the 2000 Algur H. Meadows Award for Excellence in the Arts from SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, then returned to SMU in 2001 when his work was featured in the museum’s inaugural exhibition, “Poetics of Movement: The Architecture of Santiago Calatrava.”
SMU again honored Calatrava at Commencement in 2005 with the presentation of the Honorary Doctor of Arts degree at a ceremony where he gave the 90th SMU Commencement address.
“One of the enormous qualities of America is the way is welcomes people,” Calatrava said at Meadows Museum. “You have welcomed us with your will and your heart. I know so many people in this community, but my mother, my alma mater, it’s this university.”
Photo from SMU