May 1, 2017

Getting to Know: Systems administrator makes his mark on Wayne State

In the Wayne State University Library System, Matt Mustonen appears to be the typical IT person — fast with an answer, quick to figure out a problem and always ready to help.

But when Mustonen’s hands aren’t on a keyboard fixing a computer problem, they’re creating beautiful sculptures.

“I’m focused while I’m trying to repair a computer,” said Mustonen, 57, systems administrator with WSU Libraries. “But if I think about a sculpture I get to work on after work, it puts me in a better mood and gives me something to look forward to.”

For his day job, Mustonen handles staff computing issues and ensures that the library’s machines are running properly. Though he admits he approaches computer support and sculpting quite differently, there are some similarities.

“There are basic steps involved in both troubleshooting and sculpting,” Mustonen said. “They both have to be balanced in order to make things work right or fit together in a way that allows you to gain that feeling of satisfaction and completion that you want from either fixing a computer or making a sculpture.”

Mustonen began working for Wayne State Libraries in 1991 as a student assistant. He became a technician and eventually worked his way into a full-time staff position as an applications specialist. While he enjoys working with computers, his passion always remained in art.

Mustonen first started sculpting in art class around the age of 9 or 10. He still has sculptures on his shelf that he did in fourth or fifth grade. He remembers doing a head of his father in grade school, which bore a striking resemblance to Fred Flintstone. It wasn’t until he became a teenager that he realized he had a knack for sculpting.

Out of all the sculpting materials — such as wood and metal — Mustonen said he prefers clay because of the feel and pliability. “You can add and subtract with clay,” he said. “If you make a mistake, you can put it back.”

Over the years, Mustonen continued to sculpt bits and pieces as he felt inspired, but didn’t have much focus or direction. That all changed in 1993, when he took a sculpting class at Wayne State for the first time. From then on, his passion intensified.

His biggest accomplishment to date came in 2011. Not only was it the year he earned his bachelor’s at age 51 from Wayne State's James Pearson Duffy Department of Art and Art History, but it’s also when Jim Anderson, president and CEO of Urban Science, commissioned Mustonen to create a sculpture of former WSU College of Engineering Dean Ralph Kummler. Anderson, a Wayne State engineering alumnus, was a longtime friend and colleague of Kummler, who passed away in 2009.

Mustonen knew the sculpture was important for Anderson, who began his career in 1967 as an instructor in the college, and it earned a seal of approval. It also would not be the last time Anderson gave back to his alma mater. In 2014, Anderson and his wife, Patricia, gave the College of Engineering a $25 million gift.

There was only one problem: Mustonen never had the opportunity to meet the former dean. Until then, Mustonen sculpted his subjects in person. He went to the engineering department and got all the photos they had. In addition, Mustonen went to the university’s photo archives and took a few hundred more.

“I tried to find the best angles that I could, and the different ages — it ranged from a young Dean Kummler up until his last year as the dean,” Mustonen said. “I then put the photos in Photoshop. I would try to get the same angle and lens configuration of the angle of my sculpture, so I could superimpose that over the photo and see if I was going in the right direction.”

An unveiling ceremony took place on Oct. 25, 2011, outside of the Marvin I. Danto Engineering Development Center. Mustonen’s sculpture is nestled between the Engineering Building and the Danto Center — appropriately named Kummler Commons — on view for all who walk campus.  The placement was poetic — Kummler was instrumental in fundraising for the Danto Center, overseeing its design, construction and opening.

“I’ve got a lot of bronze sculptures that I’ve done through classes,” Mustonen said. “But the commission that’s over at the College of Engineering — now I can die, and I’ll have something that’ll last a long time.”

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