The Utah Public Art Program recently invited Gordon to create a suspended art installation for the new Southern Utah University School of Business in Cedar City. The selected proposal ‘Canyon Light’ will be a luminous, colorful addition to the architecture of the SUU Business Building. Inspirations for the installation were the unique geological formations of the Wall Street Slot Canyon in nearby Bryce Canyon National Park, and the towering buildings lining the narrow streets of lower Manhattan’s Wall Street.

Jim Glenn, Public Art Manager at the Utah Division of Arts & Museums stated: “The Utah Public Art Program is pleased to work with Southern Utah University’s public art committee and their selection of Gordon Huether and his team for the public art project in the new business building. The artist and his team have proposed a beautiful work responding to both the natural beauty of Utah and the University’s desire to create an environment that inspires students to think creatively toward new heights,”.

Visitors to the building will have an opportunity to experience a journey through the artwork, with its variety of shapes and profiles providing an engaging and constantly transforming experience for the viewer. Dichroic film applied to the acrylic panels mimics the effects of the filtered and diffused light in the canyon. Radiating color, reflection and refracted light, each panel has a distinct and unique effect on the interior spaces of the Business Building.

‘Canyon Light’ will be visible from a variety of perspectives throughout the building. When viewed from the second floor balcony, the gaps between sets of suspended panels will offer views across the open atrium space of the Business Building. From the first floor, looking up towards the suspended works, the distinct profiles of the pairs of panels will be clearly apparent. Ambient light and the perspective of the viewer are all factors that will transform the appearance and experience of ‘Canyon Light’, throughout the day and evening.

The SUU Building is expected to open at the beginning of the 2018 academic year. ‘Canyon Light’ will be a significant enhancement of architectural space.