On Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 9:00 p.m., the City of Fort Worth will illuminate the Avenue of Light, a major new work of public art created by Cliff Garten Studio of Los Angeles. Comprised of six soaring stainless steel sculptures set into the median of Lancaster Avenue, the monumental artwork forms a gateway to Fort Worth with an impressive display of lighting infrastructure. Glowing beacons, the sculptures herald a vibrant new identity for the re-emerging historical Lancaster District.
The event will commence at 8:30 p.m. at the northeast corner of Lancaster Avenue and Throckmorton Street, where light refreshments will be served. Remarks will be made at 9:00 p.m. by speakers Mayor Mike Moncrief, Mayor Pro Tem Kathleen Hicks, Council Member Joel Burns and artist Cliff Garten. Shortly after, the sculptures will become a "canvas" for a colored light program that will illustrate the dynamic nature of the work. The program will last approximately 30 minutes.
Avenue of Light
Rising 36 feet above the streetscape, the Avenue of Light sculptures are at once transparent and opaque, depending on the viewer's position and time of day. Each sculpture is made of 100 stainless steel plates, whose forms are derived from architectural details in the nearby Texas & Pacific Terminal, an Art Deco landmark. Stacked onto armatures, the plates create torqued volumes that contain and reflect sunlight by day, and focus beams of colored LED lights at night. The sculptures are set on concrete pedestals and will be seen amongst a palette of native trees and grasses.
Avenue of Light as Urbanism
Nearly one-half mile in length, Avenue of Light anchors the Lancaster Avenue Corridor Redevelopment Project. Originally a grand thoroughfare, Lancaster Avenue was severed from Fort Worth's downtown in the 1950s with the construction of the elevated I-30 freeway. The district's renewal began in 2001, when a group of concerned citizens successfully campaigned to relocate the freeway. Public and private interests banded together to create a mixed-use, pedestrian friendly corridor as a Tax Increment Finance District (TIF).
Cliff Garten Studio secured the commission for the Lancaster Avenue median redesign through a national invitational competition administered by Fort Worth Public Art. His proposal stood out because of the artist's stated ambition "to make sculpture at the scale of the city, embracing its infrastructure as something with great aesthetic potential," and because it treated the median's landscape and the sculptures as an integrated work of art. Work began on the project in 2005.
Cliff Garten recollects, "I was impressed that Fort Worth recognized the need for a big urban gesture. The challenge was to use the median design and the sculptures as the entry and civic spine of the new Lancaster District. We had to create a sustainable image which could carry the city into the next 100 years of its history."
"Mr. Garten's work has been vitally important in our efforts to bring new life to the south end of Fort Worth," said Fernando Costa, Fort Worth Assistant City Manager. "Our goal was not merely to create a visually attractive street, but to use its redesign as a catalyst for redevelopment. Mr. Garten's work is instrumental in that. This thoughtful and thought-provoking piece of art will contribute to the appeal of Lancaster Avenue."
"Lancaster Avenue was always a major thoroughfare, but this installation makes it a place to be. Now, it really feels like you are entering downtown," added Martha Peters.
Photos: Kevin Buchanan