‘Twilights’ public art installation adds layered elements of light, sculptures to Iowa City corridor

IOWA CITY — A new spark of art is adding beauty and safety to a small Iowa City corridor, thanks to a new public art installation.

“Twilights,” unveiled Nov. 18, gives a new application to innovative lighting at a previously dark alley connecting the Pedestrian Mall to the area in front of The Graduate Hotel on South Dubuque Street.

The project, developed in partnership with the City of Iowa City and the Iowa City Downtown District, enhances an existing mural celebrating Iowa City’s literary culture by transforming the now covered walkway into an immersive sensory experience.

“We’re doing something that is meeting a need for the community, and we’re also interested in reactivating the site — drawing on some of the elements that may have been taken for granted,” said Hannah Givler, the Iowa City artist whose sculptures contributed to the project. “It may surprise you or bring you back to the present moment.”

Sparking inspiration

“Campfire Stories,” the 80-foot wide Drew Etienne mural first painted on The Graduate’s exterior wall in 2020, celebrates Iowa City’s cultural center as an incubator of literature with an aesthetic style reminiscent of children’s book illustrations — a bear enjoying a recitation by a deer, a blue bird telling a story outside a tent, a bison reading a book by a campfire.

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All of it, centered on the age-old tradition of storytelling, illustrates the unifying power of literature with a scene portrayed in a woodcut style — a medium used to convey information for thousands of years.

But a detail many may have regarded as background is now being reactivated as inspiration for the alley’s new centerpiece: fireflies.

Twilights, with a nod to transitional moments, uses an insect’s example to remind humans of the importance of connection.

Fireflies, the bioluminescent beetles that have inspired summer memories for generations, have seen a steep decline for decades under the threat of a changing climate.

“Lightning bugs, fireflies have declined,” said Mike Lambert, senior lighting designer for Teknephos. “I remember as a kid, you could go outside in Cedar Rapids, where I grew up, and grab a handful.”

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Givler’s three clusters of sculptural lighting, the focal points of the exhibit’s ceiling, take inspiration from fireflies and long exposure photography with meandering streaks of light that build on Etienne’s motif. With warm white pendant lights surrounded by looped linear elements, each cluster offers an ember glow.

Similar to a firefly’s blinking mating call, she hopes the piece calls to the viewer as a reminder of human kinship with other animals and the moments people hold in presence with each other every day.

But the sculptures are only one element of the art.

LED lighting surrounding the perimeter of the corridor offers multicolor lighting that will, at times, have one light racing around like a firefly.

“It’s a really complex visual environment,” Lambert said. “We could have these lights changing 25 times a second.”

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And throughout the day the atrium’s glass roof, lined with a dichroic film, floods the sidewalk with a kaleidoscope of color that evolves every minute, in lockstep with the sun’s movement.

On the walls, a cascade of LED lighting illuminates the mural, creates subtle animations and adds a new dimension of texture to brick.

All of it punctuates safety and functionality with beauty thanks to funding from the City of Iowa City’s Self-Supported Municipal District Grant Program and American Rescue Plan Act funds.

“We pump up the vibe a little bit, create some safety, make it a selfie point and a good greeting card for people who arrive here at The Graduate,” Lambert said.

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Collaboration

The project is a collaboration between Hannah Givler Studio, Teknephos, Slingshot Architecture and fabrication or contracting from several other local partners.

“This installation demonstrates what’s possible when design, engineering and artistic vision come together with strong community support,” said Steve Miller, associate principal and design director of Slingshot Architecture. “The Graduate Walkway is a vital connector of our downtown, and Twilights enhances that experience while celebrating the creativity that defines Iowa City.”

Givler and Lambert said the project’s design was characterized by an improv-forward mentality through layering.

“We just naturally had this ‘yes, and’ approach to this,” Lambert said. “That’s how these kinds of interesting projects emerge.”

Lambert has worked on lighting projects across the country, but often specializes in lighting on water towers and amusement park rides.

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Givler’s local art has appeared in both museums and public installations, like the Prairie Box previously in downtown Iowa City.

Together, they helped create light that narrates the mood through a wide range of powerful emotions.

“One of the powers of light is it’s so ephemeral. You don’t know if it’s working on you, you don’t necessarily see the boundaries of it,” Givler said. “For people to experience that space anew with whoever they’re with, they’re sharing that together. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a big moment.”

Lambert said the advances of technology embraced by this design compares to the sophisticated displays of Las Vegas and other major cities. Deploying light’s ability to interpret emotion with modern technology is important, he said, to keep up with modern standards for immersive environments.

But at the end of the day, the mission of the alley’s new glow is to create connection.

“The alley is a connection point geographically, one side to another, but it’s also about people having fun together in a new way and connecting around that,” Givler said.

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Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.