Notice how the time of day and seasons effect the rainbow beams as they glide thru the building, changing shape, color and position.
Ideal Viewing Times And Seasons
Times of Day: 10am-3pm Seasons: All Year
TechnicalDetails
Building Orientation: South facing
Solar Access: Two story, entry lobby windows Locations and # of prisms installed: 3 prisms in lobby windows
Some notes on how I made it
Oddly enough, I’d been visiting my hometown Corvallis library for 6 years before I noticed that the two story entrance lobby would make a killer Rainbow Art installation… When it hit me on a rare sunny midday in January, 2017, I rushed down stairs to meet library director Carolyn Rawls and got her to pull up my website on her screen, Carolyn immediately liked the idea and agreed to come to my studio to see my scale foam board model as soon as I finished it. (See photos).
The lobby is high and bright, facing slightly southwest, and it leads into a much darker and lower circulation area. Compared to the rather pastel spectrum colors in the lobby, that relative interior darkness allows the rainbow beams to appear to the human eye as very radiant and fully saturated. And I didn’t realize working in the design model that the lobby stairs would be such a big addition to the installation until after we opened on August 17. This happens a lot. I get to discover what I’ve made, only as I view it, and get to discover it, over the changing hours and seasons of a full solar year.
Another surprise: In the winter, the second floor balcony carpet gets flooded with spectrum like the ceiling of Silverton does (all year at fleeting moments of Solar Conjunction.) The “unveilings” in the 100 Libraries film shows the huge crowd at the Corvallis opening.
Ashley Chavez has been super supportive of the art installation. When I told her about my dream of 100 Libraries in 2023, Ashley said, “I’d like our four Benton Bounty Libraries to be the first to be installed. (Monroe, Philomath and Alsea are all in various stages of final design.)
