Installed 2024 – 6 of 100

150 N 2nd Suite B
Jefferson, Oregon 97352
541-327-3826
Library Director: Nadia 
Email: info@jeffersonpubliclibrary.org

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:
Seasons:

Technical Details

Building Orientation: 
(coming soon)

Solar Access: 
(coming soon)

Some notes on how I made it

The Jefferson Friends Of-The library paid for the multi hundred dollar rental of the lift that we used.

Jefferson is a tiny town of 3200, a real Oregon gem. Its lovely, solar designed library opened in 2018 – with 7 fabulous south facing, clerestory windows. Another rainbow art dream site! 

I built my foam board model from plans kindly supplied by Librarian, Nadia Heinrich. The small, 3/8” – 1” scale worked really well. (see photos) Except, I didn’t realize that a piece of foam board: the huge, sun shielding and south facing eve had accidentally fallen off the model before I started designing. Whoops! 

So, I blithely created the whole project, thinking my flat-laser-cut prisms would have access to those high June Sunbeams blocked by the lost eve. But, on June 24, 2024, when my friend Chet Johnson and Project Manager, Johanna Beekman and I stepped out of the car to install my prisms in Jefferson I was horrified (and embarrassed) to see, before my eyes, that eve’s huge shadow completely covering the south windows that were my main prisms locations! 

Nadia took it very well. 

And, at the end of the work day, after we had painstakingly installed the “useless in summer prisms” I was shocked and delighted to see sunshine pouring through the west windows of the entrance hall. (This wasn’t even in my design model) Much relieved, we installed the 6 foot wide prism on that glass, giving Jefferson four extra hours of rainbows to greet visitors in the afternoon. (A goal of 100 Libraries is to create rainbows for all  operating hours throughout the year.) 

With the seasonal sun angles low enough, we finally held our opening and unveiling celebration on August 24, 2024.

Nadia and Johanna’s social media blast brought more than 30 people to the opening, some from as far away as Salem  – a crowd for such a small town. Johanna again led us in her stirring version of “Over the Rainbow,” while kids did the “unveiling” by pushing the button that  electrically raises the prism window blinds. (how 21st century). 

I’m really happy with Jefferson, whose success, once again, got leveraged by a mistake.