|
Science Symposium Schedule
Science Center sculpture arrives
Monday, Aug. 22 for assembly
in new Physicians Atrium
 Internationally
respected glass artist Kenneth vonRoenn is sure to draw – and wow – a
crowd Aug. 22-23, when his 2½-story sculpture is erected in the
Physicians Atrium, the dramatic main entry to Manchester College’s new
$17 million Science Center.
The 50-foot-long artwork of dichroic acrylic, aluminum tubes and
stainless steel cables is designed to animate the atrium space as it
creates an ever-changing light show.
On Monday, Aug. 22, vonRoenn and his team from Architectural Glass Art
Inc. of Louisville, Ky., will arrive with the partially disassembled
sculpture and begin the logistics of assembling and erecting it from
steel cables in the Physicians Atrium. The process is expected to take
at least two days, as each piece is precisely positioned alongside the
open stairway within the railed open-storied structure.
While appearing weightless and almost fluid, the artwork will cast
colors as varied as the position of the viewer and the time of day. That
diversity will reflect the energy of Manchester College and especially
the science program, promises artist vonRoenn. The interwoven ribbons of
reflecting acrylic will be structured but unrestricted within circles of
aluminum tubing – not unlike the dynamics of the College’s science
program.
More than 11 years in the planning, the $17 million Science Center is a
focal point on the mall of the liberal arts College, which has a long
history of hands-on science education for all of its students, not just
science majors. The structure will be dedicated at 3:30 p.m. on Friday,
Sept. 16, following a day-long Science Symposium. VonRoenn is among the
presenters.
The Physicians Atrium honors Manchester College graduates who have or
will receive medical degrees. A plaque on the first floor of the atrium
recognizes dozens of generous physicians who have contributed to the
fund-raising.
The Atrium is flanked on the south by the 150-seat
Flory Auditorium, four lecture halls and, on the top floor, greenhouses.
Students using study areas on the second and third floors also will
look out onto the sculpture. (Stretching north from the Atrium is a
three-story wing of classrooms, laboratories, student-faculty research
rooms and faculty offices.)
 Artist
vonRoenn has chosen the dichroic acrylic for its startling ability to
transmit and reflect colors. As light strikes the glass in the
structure, one color is transmitted and its complementary color is
reflected. Thus, as the viewer moves, the colors change, energizing and
transfixing.
Architectural Glass Works is one of America’s oldest glass studios in
continuous operation and is recognized worldwide as an innovative glass
studio. Its work has appeared in every major design magazine and in
dozens of books. The studio designed the world’s largest glass
sculpture – the crown of the skyscraper for Wachovia Bank’s headquarters
in Charlotte, NC.
VonRoenn is recognized as one of the 25 most influential people in the
arts in the Midwest. His glass sculptures appear at Churchill Downs,
Macy’s Department Store, NASA, Ronald Reagan Washington National
Airport, the Kentucky Museum of Arts, and hundreds of other commercial,
private and residential settings. He is working on a glass project for
the world’s largest Hindu Temple, in Mayapur, India.
For more about Architectural Glass Art Inc., visit
www.againc.com.
For more
about Manchester College and its new Science Center, visit
www.manchester.edu
|
