Client: Montgomery College
Location: Silver Spring, United States
Completion date: 2009
Artwork budget: $50,000
Project Team
Artist
David Hess
Public Art Agent
Susie Leong
Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County
Art Consultant
Chahnaz Mcrae
Montgomery College
Overview
David Hess designed, fabricated and installed this 13’ tall hanging sculpture composed of twisted steel and hand-blown glass spheres. The piece hangs in a 25’ tall entry way.
Goals
The Project Architects established the location of the piece; hanging from the roof of the atrium of the new Performing Arts Center. I wanted the piece to be thematic in nature. My initial designs were based on the notion of a hanging seed pod. This was symbolic of a performance, suggesting the dissemination and germination of ideas (seeds). Later, I merged this with the notion of a boat. For me this was a way to evoke the journey of an audience watching and following a performance.
Process
My project was selected based on review from a ten person committee lead by Susie Leong, Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County and Chahnaz Mcrae of Montgomery College. The project I proposed was built almost exactly as it had been originally proposed. I coordinated with the project engineer to locate and size structural beams to support the piece.