Aquileans - CODAworx

Aquileans

Client: City and Borough of Juneau, Docks and Harbors

Location: Juneau, AK, United States

Completion date: -000

Artwork budget: $450,000

Project Team

Artist

Cliff Garten

Cliff Garten Studio

Public Art Agency

City of Juneau

Overview

Situated along Juneau’s cruise ship birth the suite of ten sculptures defines how visitors and the community meet the water’s edge. The sculptures are installed on existing bollards that were formally used to tie up cruise ships along the waterfront from Marine Park to the Mt. Robert’s Tramway building. The inspiration for Aquileans sculptural form is archetypes of the Alaskan landscape including two iconic ecological shapes, a whale fluke and an eagle’s wings in flight. Aptly titled, Aquileans is a combination of the Latin words for eagle and whale.

Goals

These ten sculptures defines how visitors and the community meet the water’s edge.

Additional Information

Each sculpture reflects and refracts sunlight during the day and at night are illuminated with a program of color changing LED lights reminiscent of the Aurora borealis northern lights phenomena. Set against the landscape of mountains and ocean the sculptures create a recognizable character for the waterfront and bring a contemporary aesthetic to the social and economic life of Juneau.