In early 2020 I was invited to develop several original art installations for a proposed Arts Complex in the central Washington state. The project included a Civic Center,

an outdoor stage at a Visitor Center, and a central lobby connected to an art gallery walk surrounding a multi-venue Performing Arts Center Complex (PAC).

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These art installations were to be designed as landmark icons on a grand scale. They were to be seamlessly integrated with the visionary architecture developed by my Client, Architect Brad McDonald with his Reveal Studio in-house Team lead by Heidi Hirsch. 

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My inspirations for the Civic Center and for the PAC Complex central lobby came from the details of local farmland landscape, and from a unique proposed location for the project in the Dark Skies area of the state. 

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W H E A T    L A C E    S I L O

Cut into and fused with the building form, this art installation is placed at the entrance to the Civic Center and becomes its marquee and iconic landmark.

 

It is a delicate metal cage structure made of stylized stalks of golden wheat found in the surrounding fields. Multicolor stained glass panels set into the wheat kernel forms highlight and enliven the metalwork.

 

Wheat stalk motif is carried into decorative railings of the adjacent ramps and steps, and into the surrounding area's hardscape and landscape design.

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G O L D I L O C K S    C O N S T E L L A T I O N  

Located in the central lobby joining the three distinct live venues of the Performing Arts Center, this architecture-sculpture-mixed media installation is inspired by Goldilocks Zone; a term used by astronomers searching for extraterrestrial life to describe planets meeting all of the conditions necessary to support life forms. 

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Goldilocks Constellation consists of two interwoven double helix decorative ramps. They lead up to a  restaurant with a Dark Skies observation deck perched on top of the central lobby. The ceiling of the lobby is a giant projection screen showcasing deep space galaxies in a light-and-sound media installation based on stunning imagery from latest deep space research.

 

The filigree screen metalwork of the ramps' decks is derived from stylized orbit' trajectories pattern of the countless celestial bodies found in the Goldilocks Zones. The orbit trajectory motif is carried into the intricate design of all metalwork railings, with additional art glass cameo inserts of jewel-like stars and planets. It is also repeated again in a custom stone and metal flooring inlays of the lobby, and in the bespoke carpeting patterns lining the art gallery walk surrounding the center.

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The vertical space between the double helix staircases features the project's centerpiece art installation inspired by Albert Einstein's space-time continuum theory.

 

Made of multiple light sculptures and spider-web like structures, it celebrates Einstein's realization that massive celestial objects cause a distortion in space-time.