In 1975, for BYU’s centennial, the university held a competition inviting concepts for new works of art to be placed on campus. Frank J. Nackos (BA ’65) designed the winning Tree of Wisdom, which became a campus landmark. The 10-paneled design, an abstraction of a tree’s roots and branches, was placed near the library before being transplanted south of the Spencer W. Kimball Tower. Because of weathering it was torn down in the fall of 2011 and replaced with a sturdier version in December 2012.“My hope is viewers first enjoy the aesthetic beauty of its ever-changing form when walked around,” says Nackos, “but it’s also my hope that they can see the duality of a tree form, which suggests the BYU motto of being rooted in knowledge and wisdom and then branching out and growing to fruitfulness and service.”
BYU Today
