Sea Bee

Dustin Shuler, 1990

This salvaged fuel ship sculpture is located on the lawn North of Pollak Library. It is on indefinite loan from the artist.

The original 12-ton version of The Sea Bee towered 32-feet high in the midst of the Allendale Shopping Center parking lot in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. David W. Bermant, then president of National Shopping Centers, commissioned the sculpture in 1990, and it remained a somewhat controversial local landmark until September 2002 when the shopping plaza’s new owners asked that it be removed to make room for more parking. Shuler supervised the dismantling, preserving only the very tip of the ship’s bow and giving it to Cal State Fullerton on long-term loan.The plaque at the original site informed visitors that artist Dustin Shuler “believes in art that puts everyday things out of context, such as a ship rising out of a sea of cars in the parking lot of a mall”—or poking out of the landscaping on a California campus.