05/13/2026
Located in Martin Luther King Jr. Park near Plum Creek, Athena Tacha’s 1976 sandstone and pumice sculpture evokes running water flowing over a hill. The sculpture is composed of a type of sandstone native to the area, called Berea Grit, and pumice. Varying sizes of sandstone blocks are interspersed with large pieces of pumice, which lends a sense of flowing water. When viewed, “Streams” invites the viewer to consider humankind’s relationship to the environment and reminds us that nature is a public resource.
“Streams” was one of the first landscape sculpture commissions created by Athena Tacha. Born in Greece, Tacha first came to the United States in the 1960s as a Fulbright grant recipient, where she attended Oberlin College and eventually received a degree in Art History. During this time, she became close friends with professor Ellen Johnson, whose teaching and pioneering ideas influenced the College’s art department and the Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM). Tacha spent time abroad, returning to Oberlin as an assistant curator for the AMAM under Chloe Hamilton Young. In 1967, she became Curator of Modern Art, and it was during this time that Tacha married Baroque Art professor Richard Spear, who taught at the College. In 1973, Tacha left her position as curator and became a professor of sculpture at the College, a position she would hold until 2000.
During her careers as curator and professor, Tacha made her own art, experimenting with site-specific environmental sculptures. These pieces of art were a first in the art world, shaping how people thought about, and made, monumental sculpture and land art. Tacha’s inspiration for monumental public sculpture was, in part, fueled by a sense of elitism in the art world that she felt needed to be curtailed. By using public outdoor sculpture as a medium, everyone could access her work- as opposed to art held privately, or in a museum where access is controlled. This enables people who usually would not be able to interact with art a chance to have public art influence their thoughts and perceptions. Today, Tacha’s sculptures can be seen in many public spaces, particularly in cities with little green space.
