Ashley Takacs | Marking our campus

As a freshman who couldn't find Greek Lady with her NSO-issued map, there was one landmark that was easy to find: the LOVE statue. My peer adviser, as well as many others, instructed the 12 of us to meet in front of the sculpture, which we all remembered from tours and brochures - a near-miracle, considering that it was only days after we arrived on campus.

For the next year, I would continue to meet friends by the statue. Now, as an upperclassmen and Superblock resident, I meet friends under another campus landmark - the colossal Dueling Tampons.

Besides being instantly memorable, these two installations have something key in common - they were both funded by the One Percent for Art Ordinance, a Philadelphia law first envisioned by Michael von Moschzisker 50 years ago. The law requires that developers redeveloping City land must reserve 1 percent of the project's budget for public art. He saw public art as a worthwhile investment and his ordinance ensures that it will always be a part of Philadelphia's character.

Von Moschzisker believed that it is a city's eccentricities, not its efficiencies, that give it character. He saw 1 percent as a small price to pay in order to build a city's character. "The most famous meeting place in Philadelphia is the statue of the eagle in Wanamaker's," he said, "and the most memorable outdoor object to whole generations growing up in Center City has been the goat in Rittenhouse Square."

Thus motivated, the Philadelphia City Council adopted one of the first percent-for-art ordinances in the nation. Since then, more than 300 works have been commissioned through the City's program, with many - including the Button, the Tampons and the LOVE statue - adorning Penn's campus.

Much like the Wanamaker eagle and the Rittenhouse goat, the statues on Penn's campus have shaped Penn's cultural landscape. While student opinions vary when it comes to public art on campus, no one can deny the sacred place that even the most love-it-or-hate-it (Tampons, I'm looking at you) hold. Every stroll down Locust would be a little less magical if it were not for those Tampons, or the Button, or the LOVE statue. More importantly, these pieces have made their way into Penn's identity and tradition.

Their images are plastered on our admissions brochures and Web site so extensively that even before arriving at Penn, my concept of the school was irrevocably intertwined with these campus landmarks. While some freshmen criticized their peer advisors for their failure of imagination, others mingled among their fellow students, and I admired the statue.

Similarly, the Button on College Green by Claes Oldenburg has achieved cult status on campus. When the Button's fiberglass shell was first placed on its concrete foundation in 1981, I doubt anyone could have imagined the extent to which the button would become part of Penn lore. The official College logo and an infamous site of late-night fun, the Button is the perfect symbol for a school that prides itself in working and playing hard.

Unlike the other Ivies, which rely on statues of dead white men as their symbols (though we do hold the record for the most images of Ben Franklin in one place), the Button is decidedly modern. It is refreshing that a school as old and as steeped in tradition as Penn can continuously add to that tradition through modern art and architecture. The city environment allows for this wonderful clashing of cultures, eras and aesthetics. Let's be honest: Most of us chose Penn over our stuffier Ivy counterparts for its urban location. Campus culture is not a static course set in place by alumni from some bygone era. Rather it is dynamic and vibrant, and I doubt we would have it any other way.

Despite the numerous wonderfully quirky public-art pieces gracing Penn's campus, the future of the One Percent Ordinance - especially in our corner of University City - looks bleak. Because the University already owns most of the land around campus, the law will no longer apply to future redevelopment, save the eastward expansion. Let's make sure these last few count - give us another Button or LOVE statue for future generations to congregate around. I hope they will find their place in Penn's lore and in the imaginations of the Penn community.

Ashley Takacs is a College junior from Buffalo, N.Y. Ash Wednesday appears on Wednesdays. Her email address is takacs@dailypennsylvanian.com.

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