It might be hard for those passing by the Bookstore to ignore the bright red assembly of triangles and cylinders standing 10 feet tall.

This collection of geometric shapes is a new sculpture donated by the family of the late Eli Luria, with the hopes that more public art on the City College campus will create more community areas that are ripe for interaction between students.

Ed Inks, professor of sculpture at City College, said the decision to include public art has been worked into the college’s master plan.

“The master plan that the college has created has provisions for public art,” he said. “We went to the subcommittee to determine where it would be. My concern is if the piece overpowers the area it’s in or if the area overpowers the piece.”

Artist Fletcher Benton created the sculpture for Luria and his wife Leatrice in 1991. The steel piece has been on the grounds of the Luria home since then.

The former San Jose State University professor, born in 1931, exhibits his art across the country and was given a Lifetime Achievement award in contemporary sculpture by the in New Jersey in 2008.

Benton also designed a piece for City College, which is located near the administration building.

Inks says the reason the untitled sculpture was placed in the courtyard behind the bookstore and the Gourmet Dining Room was because of the space’s underutilization.

“There weren’t many people here all the time, maybe some smokers,” Inks said. “Now that the piece is here I see more people sitting on the benches.”

City College instructor Nevin Littlehale was assigned to prepare the piece for its new home.

“My job was to restore the wear and tear,” Littlehale said. “That basically meant a new coat of paint.” He said that nothing could be done to protect the art from birds or skateboarders.

“There were some structural issues since it’s a public work,” Littlehale said. “There were some considerations to be made.” But that basically meant mounting the structure to a cement base. City College has a set of procedures to maintain public art.

Inks hopes the college can acquire more public art to display in the same fashion as the Benton piece. But he isn’t holding his breath as the financial situation of the school prevents such spending.

“This was strictly a donation,” Inks said. He added that it would be helpful to get more people familiar with public art, which he believes this community is currently lacking.

“People ask ‘What is it?’ a lot,” Inks said. “There’s an expectation that art always has to mean something. It is what it is.”