6 The Many Faces of Myers Hall

The front of a building with a quote carved into the building's face. The quote is "The nature of the body is the beginning of medical science." Hippocrates 460-370 BC. The word "medicine" and a decorative frieze depicting three scientists adorns the entranceway.
The adornments featured on the south elevation of Myers Hall announce the building’s purpose.

Built in 1937 with funds from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Myers Hall provided desperately needed space for Indiana University’s medical sciences program.1 This highly-adorned building fulfills the same function today, and in addition, it is a lot of fun to look at.

 

Entering the halls of medicine

Entrance way of Myers Hall, featuring the word "anatomy" and a decorative frieze depicting three scientists at work.

Approaching Myers Hall from the south, the first thing you may notice is the set of three identical friezes adorning the south entrance way of Myers Hall. These friezes, which depict an anatomist, a pharmacologist, and a physiologist, are the work of Bedford stone carver Harry Thomas Easton.2

Are we being… watched?

As you are admiring Easton’s carvings, you may start to feel as if all eyes are on you. Examine the front of the building carefully and you’ll soon understand why this is. From the stony-faced sentinels in the second floor windows to their feathered friends below, the south face of Myers Hall has many eyes indeed…

 

Faces sculpted in limestone look out from the exterior of Myers Hall.

Photo of a stone owl carved into a building.

 

 

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Unique IU: An Offbeat Tour of Indiana University's Bloomington Campus Copyright © by Kate Crum. All Rights Reserved.

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