Contacts: Suzanne Higgins
suzanne.higgins@gcmail.maricopa.edu 623-845-3808 Patricia Rhodes Vogel
pr.vogel@gcmail.maricopa.edu 623-845-3014
GCC Receives Magnificent Art Donation from Arrowhead Towne Center
Arrowhead Towne Center recently donated its multi-piece solar system artwork, Solaris, to Glendale Community College (GCC). The artwork, created by Larry Kirkland and valued at $225,000, is being removed as part of the Center's renovation and remerchandising effort.
"Glendale Community College is very grateful for this donation," said Dr. Phil Randolph, GCC president. "Solaris will have a wonderful home in our Physical Science Building. Mr. Kirkland's work will be enjoyed by many visitors to our campus and placed in a setting that is involved with the very topics he speaks to with his art."
GCC plans to hang half of the art in the Physical Sciences building. It will store the other half to be hung in a proposed Life Sciences Building. The proposed building would be built with a portion of the $950 million general obligation bonds to be requested of voters by the Maricopa Community College District in November. Plaques in the buildings will identify Solaris as a generous gift from Arrowhead Towne Center and Westcor Shopping Centers.
Solaris will be a momentous addition to the GCC campus. The sculpture cluster hung over center court at the Arrowhead Towne Center and is awe-inspiring as well as beautiful. The immense gold ring symbolizes the sun; an arc of golden spheres represent the sun's movement across the sky; an arc of blue spheres represents the earth's orbit; a human form represents humanity's quest for understanding; and several other pieces represent a telescope, an astrolabe, and myths about the heavens. Viewed as a whole, Solaris represents, according to Kirkland, "the thread of time, and the movement of knowledge and myth back and forth throughout the ages."
Kirkland is an internationally known artist whose works are displayed all over the world. U.S. displays include a Federal Building in Maryland, and the Rochester Institute of Technology.
GCC is located at 6000 W. Olive Avenue in Glendale. College schedules may be obtained by calling 623-845-3314.
