Five months after their unveiling, animated video art pieces created by Sacramento State students are still rippling across the giant outdoor screens at the landmark Golden 1 Center in downtown Sacramento.
Students from Professor Rachel Clarke’s classes worked through last summer to create art for the center, with 20 of the works chosen for public display on the 25-foot-tall LED screens flanking the main entrance.
Pieces range from an interpretive representation of Sacramento that evolves from a barren landscape into one covered with lush vegetation, to a visual representation of water as the source of life.
The premiere of the video art was held Dec. 14, 2016, before an audience of University and community leaders, artists, and art patrons who were thrilled with the results.
For those who may not have had the opportunity to view the display, the lineup of animated works is run every day at 5 p.m. “I’m hoping to work with them again to curate another screening in the next academic year,” Clarke says.
The Golden 1 Center screens are primarily used as advertising venues, but their value as a public art portal was recognized by Shelly Willis, then executive director of the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission and director of Golden 1’s public art program. She had worked with Clarke on the Broadway Augmented virtual art project in 2014 and approached her again about creating the inaugural public art for the video screens.
“The LED screen venue will be an ongoing site for future commissioned and borrowed artworks,” Willis said at the time of the dedication. “It’s a very large and very rare site.”
“Art on urban screens is an emerging area within public art, due to their proliferation,” Clarke said. “It’s a great way to reach audiences outside of an art gallery or museum.”
It’s not the only public art project at Golden 1 Center with ties to Sacramento State.
Alumnus Bryan Valenzuela created “Multitudes Converge,” a representation of the Sacramento and American rivers made from blue glass spheres suspended in one of the lobbies.
And Juanishi Orosco, Stan Padilla, and Esteban Villa, three artists from the Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF) artists collective, are working on “Flight,” a large-scale piece that will cover a 35-foot-high wall at another entrance. The RCAF was founded by Sac State students 41 years ago.
“It means a lot to be involved in a project of this scope,” said Marinna Hill, the student who created the animated representation of Sacramento’s growth. “It’s definitely an honor to be part of this historic project.” – Craig Koscho
See our earlier stories: