Uncovering the story behind the Center’s iconic former logo

If you’ve visited the Center for Latin American Studies on the third floor of Grinter Hall, chances are you were greeted by a large colorful graphic on the wall in the lobby. For years, this image was used as the Center’s logo, starting in the late 1990s until a redesign in 2013. But little was known about the origins of this logo. Who created it, and what does it depict?

These questions were finally answered by anthropologist and professor emerita of the University of Central Florida, Dr. Allyn MacLean Stearman. Dr. Stearman was able to provide a wealth of information about the image, because she herself created it.

Although this graphic was used as the Center’s logo in the late 1990s, its first appearance was actually a quarter of a century earlier, on a book display advertising recent publications in Latin American Studies by the University of Florida Press. It was 1973, Grinter Hall was newly finished, and Allyn Stearman was pursuing postgraduate degrees in anthropology at the University of Florida after living in Bolivia as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

“I originally produced the design as a decorative element for the book display board because it was an unattractive eyesore in the Center for Latin American Studies office,” Dr. Stearman shares. “As an artist, I offered to develop a plan to improve the situation.”

Her design stemmed from her interest in Indigenous cultures of Bolivia: “I adapted my drawing from an old Andean ceramic or textile pattern. What caught my attention were three flowers at the top with their stems at the bottom, which I interpreted in the design as Kantutas (Cantua buxifolia). They are considered a sacred flower of the Incas and became a national floral emblem of Bolivia because their three colors [red, green, and yellow] reflect those of the Bolivian flag.”

Allyn Stearman's original creation, 1973

Dr. Stearman’s homage to Indigenous art carried through into her methods for applying the image to the bulletin board. After covering the board with light burlap fabric, she lined up colored strands of knitting wool and glued them to the burlap, creating a textured image that evoked Andean weavings.

Allyn Stearman graduated from UF in 1976 with her PhD in anthropology and no idea that her design would one day be used to represent the entirety of the Center for Latin American Studies. “I have always been gratified that I was able to make some small, lasting contribution to the program, which supported me in all possible ways, and enabled me to become an anthropologist.” ◆