Boise State University welcomed a gift of art Oct. 19, with the delivery and installation of a sculpture titled “Rising Star” on the northeast corner of the Student Recreation Center plaza. The wind-driven mobile is on loan for three years from Idaho-based sculptor Robert Kantor, whose work can be found in several public and private collections in Sun Valley, Chicago and Denver. The “Rising Star” metal sculpture is 12 feet high, 10 feet long and 8 feet wide and weighs 3,000 pounds.
“We are thankful for the loan of sculpture and the impressive work of Bob Kantor,” said Boise State President Bob Kustra. “The artwork is a symbol of where we are going as an institution. Whether it is the success of the football team or our academic accomplishments in fields ranging from engineering to theatre arts, Boise State is truly rising into a first-class metropolitan university.”

The sculpture is a three-dimensional red star with blue and orange mobile balls. Kantor’s art is based on his optimistic outlook on life, which he translates into bright colored metal mobiles and non-moving pieces. He graduated from the University of Colorado, where he studied art history and English literature. Kantor was a graduate fellow at New York University in 1964, where he studied the works of Alexander Calder as well as other modern masters. Kantor is represented by the Ochi Gallery in Ketchum.