A rumor, cast in glass
A curator says Bigfoot is the most popular cryptid in SIU’s 58-work art show
The popularity claim comes from the curator. The exhibition presents artistic interpretations, not evidence that an unknown animal was found.
Two works named The Guardian and Gatekeeper emerged from hot, sculpted glass. They are among 58 entries accepted for Spooks or Spoofs at SIU Carbondale’s Sharp Museum. Curator T. Lance described Bigfoot or a sasquatch variation as the exhibition’s clear favorite. Artists from nine states also worked in ceramics, soft sculpture, audio, video and metal. Their subjects remain rumored and unproven. The artworks do not change that.
The curator put Bigfoot at the center
The exhibition brings together work from about 35 artists and remains open through December 11. SIU’s October release does not publish a creature-by-creature count, so the Bigfoot result remains Lance’s observation rather than an audited tally.
The show is broader than one large, elusive figure. Its 58 entries also include painting, drawing, digital illustration, printmaking, resin and paper mâché. That range lets artists give the same uncertainty very different surfaces.
Two works SIU names are The Guardian and Gatekeeper by alumnus Tim Spurchise. Both were made from hot, sculpted glass. Hot glass gave an unproven subject a solid form.
The submission rules excluded AI-generated images
The museum’s May call allowed work in any medium but excluded AI-generated images. It invited artists to interpret cryptid lore. The rule governed submissions; neither the May call nor the October release describes a separate audit of every accepted work’s production method.
Loren Coleman and Jeremy Efroymson served as jurists. SIU identifies Coleman as founder and director of the International Cryptozoology Museum and Efroymson as an artist and collector who works mainly in photography, installation and found-object sculpture. Their role was to judge the art. It did not turn the selected pieces into scientific findings.
SIU kept the creatures rumored and unproven
SIU describes cryptozoology as the study and search for rumored, unproven animals and figures such as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster.
The original call offered Illinois lore as material, including the Big Muddy Monster, the Cole Hollow Monster and the Enfield horror. Artists did not have to stay local. These names entered the assignment as stories to interpret, not sightings the museum had verified.
A sculpture can explore belief without becoming a specimen. Audio can make a presence feel close without becoming a recording of an unknown animal. SIU also says the artworks represent their creators’ viewpoints, not the university’s. Bigfoot’s popularity measures what artists chose to make, not what lives in a forest.
The sea serpent above is not in the exhibition
The Library of Congress dates the engraving at the top of this article to 1848. Its catalog title identifies the scene as the sea serpent when first seen from HMS Daedalus, and its notes say the image appeared in The Illustrated London News on October 28 of that year.
A long, dark shape crosses rough water while a three-masted ship rises behind it. That describes the engraving, not an observed animal. The Library also warns that its record contains unverified old data from a caption card. The image documents how a reported encounter was illustrated and circulated, not what the sailors actually saw.
The sea serpent became a wood engraving in 1848. At Sharp Museum, other cryptids became glass, ceramics, metal, sound and video. The works are real. The creatures remain unproven.
Sources and supporting documents
Rowan Price is a named OMG editorial voice, not a fictional human biography. This story passed separate evidence, rights, line-editing, originality, and skeptical-review checks before publication.
Southern Illinois University CarbondaleSIU’s Sharp Museum’s Spooks or Spoofs exhibition reception is Oct. 23Southern Illinois University CarbondaleSIU’s Sharp Museum seeking cryptid-themed art for juried exhibitionSIU TodaySharp Museum’s Spooks or Spoofs exhibition reception is FridayLibrary of Congress Prints and Photographs DivisionThe great sea serpent. The sea serpent when first seen from H.M.S. DaedalusLibrary of Congress Prints and Photographs DivisionLibrary of Congress digital resource cph.3b12989
