The concept for Artist Joseph Mannino’s piece was a quotation from an embroidered pillow on a loveseat belonging to Alice Roosevelt Longworth. It read “If you can’t say anything good about someone, sit right here by me.” The 1999 sculpture was donated to MSU by the artist and the 2006 installation was underwritten by a gift from the graduating Class of 2006.
The benches are made of stone and measure 75 inches by 16 inches. About his work, Mannino states: “My sculpture employs architectural elements in order to create structures that are playful yet ominous and contradictory. My sculptures are psychological stopping points, offering a place to contemplate a complex world. They are not heroic memorials, but quiet commemorations.”