Cover of the book De Arte Gymnastica, by Hieronymous Mercurialis in 1573; from the collection of David P. Webster, OBE; and donated to Stark Center co-founders Jan and Terry Todd at the Arnold (Schwarzenegger) Strongman Classic, in Columbus Ohio, in 2005.
February 21, 2020February 19, 2020
Barbells and BiosBy
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Barbells & Bios: De Arte Gymnastica

  Published by the Italian physician Hieronymous Mercurialis in the sixteenth century, De Arte Gymnastica has long been cited by historians as a pivotal moment in the revival of European gymnastics. Coming at a time when interest in Greco-Roman culture was growing, Mercurialis’ work was one of the first monographs to focus almost exclusively on exercise and the building of strength. De Arte was significant then, for three reasons. First it was highly regarded on publication and indeed, stayed within circulation for close to a century. Second it included several wonderfully illustrated plates of muscled men exercising, wrestling and fighting. It thus served as...

Gymnast Cathy Rigby, just before performing on the uneven bars in competition, from the Steve Wennerstrom Papers.
February 17, 2020February 13, 2020
Collection in FocusBy
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Photo of Cathy Rigby

Born in 1952 in Long Beach, California, Cathy Rigby was a popular American gymnast whose fame extended beyond the sport. The highest scoring American gymnast at the Mexico City Olympic Games of 1968, Rigby’s sporting prowess was beyond reproach.  She followed her ’68 Olympic performance with United States National Championships in 1970 and 1972. Fun fact? In 1974, Rigby moved from sport to the theatre, when she headlined a tour of Peter Pan! Thanks to the Steve Wennerstrom Papers, we have a series of clippings and photographs on Rigby’s career. When Steve became a women’s track and field coach in...

Valentine's Day greeting card with a boy pretending to be a strongman, and attempting to lift a barbell with heart-shaped plates with the caption: Can't "weight" much longer, Valentine, Be Mine.
February 14, 2020March 25, 2020
Collection in FocusBy
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1950s Strongman Valentine

To wish you all a Happy Valentine’s Day, we thought we’d share this 1950s children’s Valentine depicting a strongman and his weightlifting pooch. The card, collected by Jan and Terry Todd, is one of several dozen twentieth-century greeting cards in their collection depicting children as weightlifters. Measuring only 2.5 x 4 inches, the card was in all likelihood part of a set of “classroom Valentines” that were exchanged by children at school. These kinds of cards were sold in boxes containing 15 to 20 (or more) different scenes and messages, and for those who remember them (as I do), part...

Headshot of Andrew Hao
February 12, 2020February 13, 2020
Grad CornerBy
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Andrew Hao Receives IOC Grant

Fifth-year PhD candidate Andrew Hao recently returned to Austin from two weeks at the Olympic Studies Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he completed research on the Asian Games Federation’s admission of the Chinese Olympic Committee in the early 1970s. Andrew’s research was funded by the International Olympic Committee itself. He was one of just six recipients from around the world to receive one of the IOC’s most prestigious and competitive grants, the 2019 PhD Students and Early Career Academics Research Grant. The Olympic grant program has been around for two decades, annually funding some of the most exciting and promising...

Bill Wiman standing in front of his painting of a bodybuilder in the Teresa Lozano Long Art Gallery, in the main lobby.
February 10, 2020February 13, 2020
Collection in FocusBy
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“Portrait of a Powerlifter” by Bill Wiman

Painting, oil on canvas. At first glance, there is something curious in Bill Wiman’s “Portrait of a Powerlifter,” a familiarity in the subject’s muted facial expression, which grasps a viewer’s attention like the apparition of celebrity in a crowd. I wrongly assumed the powerlifter was someone famous, someone I’d seen in the movies. As it turns out, my assumption was arguably close, but I wasn’t at the right theatre. In truth, Wiman painted his titular powerlifter, posed in a quarter turn, with such an expression, as inspired by da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” which long ago surpassed familiarity and became ubiquitous....

The George F. Jowett Anvil, from the George F. Jowett Collection, in the Strong Men, Strong Women Gallery.
February 7, 2020February 19, 2020
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Barbells & Bios: The George Jowett Anvil

  Donated to the Stark Center by Phyllis Jowett, the Jowett Anvil belonged to the late George F. Jowett. George, as many individuals are aware, was a British-Canadian physical culturist who, among other things, helped further the cause of American bodybuilding and weightlifting. A strong man in his own right, Jowett’s claim to fame was undoubtedly his 172 lbs. anvil. In weightlifting and bodybuilding magazines, Jowett claimed he could grip its “horn” with one hand, clean it to the shoulder by flipping it at the tip of the pull and catching it in his hand, and then press it to...

Physical culture crystal sculpture of glass dancers, the Dancing Couple by Daum Studios, donated by Teresa Lozano Long.
January 17, 2020January 31, 2020
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Glass Dancers

Teresa Lozano Long gifted this crystal sculpture to the Stark Center in the spring of 2017. Jan and Terry were visiting Teresa at her home in Austin when she decided that the piece should decorate the center’s reading room. In the piece, two glass figures pose together in a balletic lift. The sculpture focuses on the bodies and musculature required for such a feat, highlighting grace and strength in each dancer. The sculpture comes from Daum, a commercial crystal studio based in Nancy, France. At Daum, artists create crystal sculptures using the pâte de verre process where crushed glass is...

The Reading Room featuring a large wooden table; four of the Battle Cast statues, on loan from the Blanton Museum of Art, are also visible.
January 15, 2020August 30, 2024
It's a Good LifeBy
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It’s a Good Life

“It’s a Good Life…” Celebrating the Stark Center’s 10th Anniversary A blog by Stark Center Director, Jan Todd I first heard the expression, “It’s a good life if you don’t weaken,” from my husband Terry Todd, who’d learned it from his grandmother, Agnes Todd, who no doubt had also heard it from her parents. As lifters, Terry and I adopted the statement somewhat as a personal mantra, often mentioning it to one another when we were tired or frustrated, and finding solace in the idea that our physical strength would help us keep moving forward on whatever task we’d set...