Art talk to feature "Vessel" sculptor Ed Carpenter

Photos by Lillian Furlong "Vessel" has begun to rise in the traffic circle in front of the Arnold Building. If you can't get outside, watch the sculpture evolve via "Vessel" cam. Installation of the sculpture should be complete in November.

A 50-foot scaffold towers over the traffic circle at the main entrance to campus, a harbinger of the visual impact of the steel-and-glass sculpture installation. Learn about the "Vessel" sculpture during a brown-bag talk sponsored by the Administrative Support Core Group Wednesday, Sept. 19, at noon in Pelton Auditorium. Staff and faculty are encouraged to attend the talk, "Art Around the Center," for an opportunity to hear from special guest Ed Carpenter, "Vessel" artist.

Scott Rusch, vice president of Facilities and Operations, will discuss the Center's art collection and the art committee, whose members chose the Portland-based artist Carpenter and "Vessel" with input from staff and faculty. A simulcast of the program will be available in the Arnold Building, M1-A305/307.

Carpenter describes "Vessel" as a basket of light rising more than four stories "in a transparent and searching gesture," mirroring the aspirations of the Center. The sculpture's open design will invite pedestrians to walk into its core.

Carpenter will be on-site through September and early October. Installation of the piece, which will illuminate at night, should be complete in November.

The commission of "Vessel" is the result of a generous gift from the family of a former Center faculty member who cites the importance of a work environment that spawns scientific creativity. The family specified the donation for the creation of outdoor art at the Center.

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