Tall Grass Tapestry
In creating the concept design for this project, Troy Corliss considered the public viewing opportunities for the suspended art on the second floor of the waiting area at the DART Central Station. He believed that a colorful and translucent tapestry symbolizing the tall grass prairie will produce a vibrant and intriguing image above the main entrance of the building.
The suspended art unit is fabricated from stainless steel wire rope and colorful fused glass tiles. Additional forged steel members delineated some of the interior shapes with in the artwork. The structure as a whole resembles a kite-like framework. This “quilted curtain” is articulated by a mosaic of complex and dynamic shapes. The shapes within the steel framework were fitted with transparent and colorful glass panels that collectively produce the graphic effect of a large watercolor painting.
Suspended on the second floor of the public waiting area at the DART Central Station, this artwork forms a tapestry, consisting of 40 kiln formed glass panels, creating a presentation much like the religious iconography of a cathedral window. The two story glass wall that frames the main entrance to the building is an architectural focal point of the facility and provides visual access to both the interior and exterior of the building.
Historically, the majority of the Iowa landscape was once populated by tall grass prairies. These native grasslands are characterized by an incredibly diverse mosaic of plant and animals species. The complexity of this ecosystem has evolved under an array of intense and periodic disturbances over thousands of years resulting in a dense biological network above and below ground. This colorful and translucent tapestry symbolizes the tall grass prairie and produces a vibrant and intriguing image above the main entrance of the building.
Troy Corliss