The life-sized statues, named Ethan and Violet by the two UC DAAP graduates, are on permanent display in the DAAP building. Alan Marrero had no idea of the legacy he’d leave when, on a Sunday morning in the winter of 2005, he stole up a ladder and placed a life-sized sculpture of himself on a high ledge in the University of Cincinnati’s Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) building. Marrero, then a senior planning student, created and positioned the statue he dubbed “Ethan” as part of an Installation Art course that required students to create a sculpture and display it for one week in DAAP. He chose the location —15 feet above the college’s main entryway—for the four distinct vantage points it offered of his artistic doppelganger, who appears to sit hunched in concentration over a laptop.
Since then, Ethan has taken on a life of his own. He was not only set on permanent display in DAAP as part of the University of Cincinnati's Fine Art Collection, but he also became a beloved pop culture icon revered by students, faculty, and staff alike.