The Merced campus sculpture titled "Beginnings" was created by the artist Aris Demetrios and is located on the main campus green (quadrangle) near the existing Science and Engineering 1 Building. The gift funded project is intended to represent the birth of UC Merced, the tenth campus in the University of California system that opened in Fall 2005. The metal sculpture is about 40 feet tall and sits on a grassy quadrangle in front of the Science and Engineering 1 Building.