The Red Oak Rain Garden is an outdoor gallery, featuring pieces created by University of Illinois students starting with Prairie Fire. The artwork is connected in various ways to the historic and present landscape of Illinois and the flora and fauna supported by the garden’s presence.
Prairie Fire
By Jennifer Astwood
The Prairie Fire sculpture, installed during the original Red Oak Rain Garden construction in 2006, was designed by Jennifer Astwood, when she was a graduate student in Fine and Applied Arts. Made of Core 10 steel, the sculpture represents flames of prairie fires, which were common before European settlement of Illinois. Learn more here.
Ceramic Tiles
Special thanks to Catherine Wiesener, Unit One/Allen Hall Instructor
In fall 2019, twelve ARTS 210 students, under the instruction of Catherine Wiesener, each created 1’x1′ ceramic mosaic tiles. The tiles depict various species of flora and fauna that can be found in and around the Red Oak Rain Garden. This is part of an ongoing collaboration, and more tiles will be added in the future. Learn more here.
Red Tailed Hawk by Carlos Moreno 
Pale Purple Coneflower by Zoila Rodriguez 
Dragonfly by Meghan Zeivel 
Wild Ginger by Madison Hall 
Rose Mallow by Amanda Sideris 
Monarch by Lucy Quinn
Wild Geranium by Addyson Wesolowski 
Longear Sunfish by Shannon Ryan 
Compass Plant by Valeria Vega 
Southern Blue Flag Iris by Cameron Krasucki 
Northern Cardinal by Arthur Hall 
Smooth Blue Aster by Lydia Davidsmeier
Through stakeholder meetings, we learned that people want artwork incorporated into the garden. If you would like to collaborate on a project, get in touch with us.
redoakraingarden.org 