"Mimos" Art at Everitt Lab

Bioengineering meets artistic expression in a new sculpture outside Everitt Laboratory. A year and a half of planning and design culminated in the installation of the piece on July 15. Under the direction of Erik “Cable” Davis (foreperson), Facilities & Services ironworkers worked alongside artist DeWitt Godfrey to fuse each metal piece into this spherical sculpture.

Godfrey, who is also an art professor at Colgate University, shared the inspiration behind the piece: “It has these references to the natural world, but also [to] bioengineering. One of the ways bioengineers work is by trying to make synthetic forms that mimic natural forms.” He explained that his work is informed by Voronoi shapes, a type of natural geometry that can be found throughout nature, from the structure of honeycombs to the scales of snakeskin. As an homage to bioengineering, the new sculpture outside Everitt mimics the structure of Radiolaria, a species of unicellular plankton. Fittingly, he named the sculpture Mimos, Greek for “mime,” or “to mimic.”

Bringing Godfrey’s vision to life involved many moving parts, literally. The artist constructed all of the sculpture’s the metal components in his New York studio before they were transferred to university on flatbed trucks. Facilities & Services safely stored the pieces as final preparations were completed. Then, in the sweltering July heat, the Grounds crew poured the foundation, and Godfrey and a team of F&S ironworkers assembled and installed the artwork. The following week, the Grounds crew added gravel and edging, carefully landscaping the spot where Mimos will greet thousands of students when classes begin August 2026.

Reflecting on the experience, Godfrey said, “[it] has been a pleasure to work with the University of Illinois. Sometimes, people are not as enthusiastic about having art on their campuses…or it’s outside of what they normally do. But here, the project was really embraced from the beginning. I think everybody [within] F&S has done a terrific job. It’s really been a pleasure to work with them, and to make sure that the piece turned out the way I was hoping it would.”