IU mourns the loss of a legend

Rudy Professor Emeritus of Fine Arts Roy Sieber was determined to do something wonderful with his life. He did just that and inspired many others to do the same. \nAfter growing up in the small town of Shawano, Wisconsin, Sieber found his way to museums and art exhibits at an early age. On his visits to Chicago with his family, Sieber would wander into the Natural History Museum.\nSlowly his interest in art grew and eventually turned into what would be a lifelong career. Sieber was the first person in the United States to receive a Ph.D. in African art history from the University of Iowa in 1957. He joined IU as an associate professor in 1962 and as one of the original scholars involved in the African Studies Program.\nSieber died Friday in Bloomington.\n"He was one of the two important scholars who put African art history on the map as a serious discipline in American universities," professor Patrick McNaughton, a colleague of Sieber's, said.\nSieber traveled around the country and the world as a visiting professor at places such as Columbia University, the University of Florida, the University of Ghana and the University in Nigeria. But Sieber did not stop teaching. He served as the Associate Director for Collections and Research at the National Museum of African Art in Washington from 1983-1993, and also started his own collection on campus called "The House of Nigeria." He remained extremely active in teaching, writing, curating, consulting and collecting until his death. \n"Roy leaves a great many loved ones behind -- his immediate family members, his vast network of former students, his colleagues and friends and the many others who were touched by his exuberant love of African creative expressions and his generosity of spirit," said John Hanson, director of the African Studies Program and a friend.\nInspiration was a recurring theme in Sieber's career.\n"Sieber was indeed an inspiration for several generations of African art history students here at Indiana University, as well as for collectors all over the country, indeed all over the world," McNaughton said. \nSieber's influence was felt in three major areas: organizing major national exhibits of African Art, producing a large body of scholarly writings and teaching students, Hanson said. For more than 40 years, Sieber's writings paved the way for the study of African art history. His publications offered new ways of perceiving and interpreting African cultural forms. \n"(Sieber) changed the way people think about everyday objects, showing that such things as African furniture and cloth can be loaded with aesthetic brilliance, cultural meaning, and personal significance," McNaughton said. \nMost people who knew him felt that his greatest influence came from his teaching. Over the course of his career, Sieber taught over 40 Ph.D. students, countless M.A. students, and led them to establish their own careers. Sieber is responsible for training the next generation of Africanist scholars. \n"But in the end, the thing that Roy contributed perhaps more than anything else was a profound love for art, which contained both glee for their subtleties and grace, and a respect for their aesthetic power," McNaughton said. \nSieber is survived by Sophie, his wife, sons Mark and Matthew, daughters Thyne and Ellen and by students, friends and colleagues around the world. \nMemorial contributions can be made to the Roy Sieber Fellowship, care of Henry Hope School of Fine Arts or to the Bloomington Hospital Foundation. A memorial celebration is planned for October 6 in tandem with the 40th anniversary of the African Studies Program.