’Dramatic’ plaster casts installed in Klarman Hall atrium

Once, she soared above the heads of Cornell luminaries like A.R. Ammons and Roald Hoffmann as they debated the great questions of their time in the Cast Gallery of Goldwin Smith Hall, later turned into the Temple of Zeus café. Then for years she lay forgotten, abandoned to dust and mold and neglect. But as of Feb. 10, the Flying Nike soars again from her pedestal above the heads of Cornell students and faculty, looking as if she could take off at any moment through the glass-encased roof of the new Klarman Hall atrium. The Flying Nike is one of many restored pieces from the College of Arts and Sciences' Cast Collection that will grace Klarman Hall's new spaces. It is fitting that she was the first, as she is perhaps the most visually striking piece in the collection. "We are thrilled to be giving a new home in Klarman Hall to some of the Cast Collection's significant pieces," says Gretchen Ritter, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences.