Artist: Ruta Marino

Sponsor: The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University

Current Status: Due to the nature of materials used on Artour, his ‘coat’ quickly deteriorated in Olean’s weather. Artour has retired to a squirrel home.

In the Artists words: Ruta started with the rich, royal purple color that is used throughout the Quick Center, and made that the ground color for the Quick Center’s squirrel. She wanted to make the comparison between the natural beauty of Olean’s native black squirrel – not to mention its rarity – with Saint Bonaventure University’s incredible art collection, which is just as much a valuable local resource for area residents. She printed color images from the collection, not only the paintings, but the beautiful Chinese ceramic vases.

When it came to the issue of naming him, Joe LoSchiavo (Arts Center Executive Director) and Ruta bounced around a lot of ideas, some of them sophisticated and some just plain silly. She wanted to have the word “art” in the name and suggested Arturo. Then it was Joe who suggested the unusual spelling of “Artour,” since their squirrel is really a “tour o’ the Quick” in himself. And, yes, they know its hokey, but we love him!

Bio: Ruta Marino was the curator of the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University for 3 1/2 years.

Essay: Artour O Quick By: Aj Pire — I like the Artour O Quick squirrel’s tail because it reminds me of my mom. It reminds me of my mom because she likes flowers. It would be so lovely if I could pick a bouquet from the Artour O Quick’s tail and give them to my mom.