Outlook Magazine - Fall 2019

Donation, university history, student work come together in new, rustic Harvey Hall benches

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“We want to be supportive of Stout because it’s a great school,” said Jerry Talen, now of Chicago, who also was an adjunct professor at UW-Stout. Emma Talen died in 2018. The Talens also have a charitable trust and scholarship in their name with the Foundation. Along with the engraved university names, the benches will have the Made at Stout and Salzman logos. Each bench, more than 6 feet long and weighing about 200 pounds, features thick parallel beams, end caps and four legs. “They’re rustic, yet elegant,” Johnson said. “They have a sturdiness to them, a nice shape and are quite comfortable.” One of the student workers is Meghan Cops, a senior technology education major. She enjoyed learning new skills during the process and contributing to a project with permanence. “Whenever I come back to Stout, they’ll still be here,” she said.

project that will help UW-Stout students take a load off their feet has come together thanks to a donation, a design that incorporates university history, and applied learning. Five wood benches are being created in Jarvis Hall Tech Wing and will be installed this fall in the corridors of Harvey Hall, one of the university’s oldest and busiest classroom buildings. Each white pine bench will be inscribed with one of the university’s five historic names: Stout Manual Training School, Stout Institute, Stout State College, Stout State University and UW-Stout, with fonts appropriate for the time periods. They are the product of much collaboration. Former city residents Emma and Jerry Talen of Menomonie donated to Stout University Foundation to kick off the project, and retired architecture professor Courtney Nystuen designed the benches. The wood was partially donated by alumnus J.R. Salzman, owner of J.R. Salzman Wood Company near Menomonie. The benches were made under the supervision of Professor Jerry Johnson and with five students. The Talens owned First Bank and Trust next to campus from 1980 to 1995, a bank once run by UW-Stout founder James Huff Stout and now home to the Graduate School. When a new bank — Dairy State — was built on the east side of town, their friend Nystuen designed it. He used timber peg construction — no nails. The benches also are timber peg.

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