The Trotsky Family Collection

Moravian Roots III is one of four monumental sculptures by artist Steve Tobin which can be found throughout campus. Its inspiration is traced to events on 9/11, when an uprooted old Sycamore protected St. Paul's Chapel from harm during the attacks on the World Trade Center. 

Moravian Roots I&II adorn the front lawn of the Payne Gallery. 

The playful interaction between the two forms and placement within the landscape has become a important landmark for the Hurd Campus dedicated to Art and Music. 

The artist squeezes warm wax through his hands and immediately submerges it in cold water. The event is then cast in bronze. This 9' bronze sculpture by Steve Tobin, titled Squeeze, was developed and fabricated from a 3D scan of an 8" original wax model. 

The Trotsky Family Collection now holds work by Tobin in bronze, steel, and glass. 

This work was featured in a retrospective exhibition of Stirner’s work held in Moravian College's now Moravian University's Payne Gallery in 2013. Stirner's work has been shown at the Museum of Modern Art, the Corcoran Institute; and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Renzo Faggioli is a ceramicist and emeritus professor of ceramics at Moravian University. Raised in the small town of Montelupo, Italy, Faggioli’s initial training in the art of ceramics was  at the Scuola State Ceramica della Robbia in Florence. 

This raku-fired bust depicts Benigna Zinzendorf. In 1742 Benigna founded the first boarding school for girls in the British American Colonies, which became Moravian College now Moravian University.

The sculpture now resides in the President's Lobby of Moravian University. Benigna's six-times great-granddaughter, M. Blair Gericke graduated from Moravian College in May 2011 with a bachelor's degree in Nursing.

Val Bertoia was born in Santa Monica, California in 1949 to the artist, Harry  Bertoia and his wife, Brigitta Valentiner. Val worked extensively with his  father from 1972 to 1978. 

The two primarily worked on his father’s Sound  Sculpture environment, trademarked “Sonambient”. Late in the 1970s, Harry  and Val made Bertoia Sound Sculptures for large distribution.

During this time, Val began to work on his own projects, in addition to his father’s. This is one of two Bertoia gongs that are displayed in the Trotsky Lounge Family.  

Reach, a spiraling sculpture weighing over 700 pounds was sculpted by Pennsylvania artist Michelle Kalman. Reach now stands in the lobby of the Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz Center for Health Sciences. 

The process of drying and firing the clay takes over a year. Scallop, another work by Kalman, can be found in the lobby of Reeves Library. 

Stephen Posen is an American painter and photographer who works in both New York City and Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Initially known for his realist-style paintings of fabric, Posen now concentrates on abstract paintings and drawings.

Posen’s work can be found in the collections of MoMA, The Guggenheim Museum, PAFA, The Nelson-Atkins Museum,  and now Moravian University. 

Myeong-sang 1813, one of a series of acquisitions from husband and wife team Jeong Han & Choon Hyang Yun.

The Yun's harvest the bark from Dak trees in South Korea and process the pulp to create "paintings" with handmade paper. 

The vibrant colors of the fibers and rich texture of the handmade papers have the look of being painted but are actually dyed and applied wet. 

This painting is the inaugural gift of Joann Trotsky and is considered one of the most successful paintings of Baum's career. Payne Gallery now holds three paintings by Baum painted in Bethlehem.

This scene of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania is a short walk from where the Payne Gallery stands today. 

Inspired by a love of art from a young age, Joann dedicates the collection to her parents Alexander and Elizabeth Trotsky. 

Empathy is a painting by Emily Strong, Moravian alumna ’15. Her Body Language series was supported by a grant from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation. This painting is one of three in the series that are now part of the Trotsky Family Collection.