If you’ve been following our blog and came to the fabulous Summer Solstice Party, you may have noticed something amiss. Incredible music acts? Check. Gallery previews? Check. Revelers dancing the night away? Check. But where was the mysterious art installation?
The day before the party, following months of work behind the scenes, Mark Reigelmän and the team from Cleveland Public Art and the Cleveland Institute of Art worked late into the night to put the piece together. In the early hours of the morning, their work finally completed, the satisfied group members put down their tools and headed off to catch some z’s before the big event, leaving behind a 20-foot-tall sculpture built of 100 eight-foot chloroprene weather balloons across the façade of the museum’s 1916 building.
Upon returning to the museum on the morning of the event, the group discovered that brutal winds had destroyed the work overnight.
We’ll let the pictures, taken early Friday morning, speak for themselves. Suffice it to say it’s a great shame that Solstice partygoers weren’t able to enjoy this incredible and atmospheric piece at the event.
The installation, titled White Cloud, was the creation of New York-based artist Mark Reigelmän. Reigelmän, a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art, was inspired by clouds as objects that provide beautiful and effective shields from the harsh summer sun on the year’s longest day. The sculpture extended more than 100 feet across the museum grounds and hovered 20 feet above them, adding a playful complement to the building’s formality. Locally based Vincent Lighting Systems collaborated with the artist to create dramatic lighting installations that were planned to evolve throughout the evening.
This sculpture, installation looks fabulous. I am so sorry it was ruined and I wasn’t able to see it in person.
thanks for the beautiful photographs, though. I hope the artist can create another installation at a future event.
regards,
Toni
I was at the Solstice party a week ago Saturday and was really looking forward to the installation after reading about it here on your blog. A friend who works at CMA told me that she’d heard there had been some sort of snafu with the project, but she had not seen the installation to say what it involved. Meanwhile, we were discussing this outside on the terrace and commented on how beautiful the lighting was on the white marble of the original museum building.
From your photos it looks as though we missed a dramatic and fun addition to the revels, but the lighting itself was very cool and added that bit of sparkle you need at a gala event like Solstice.
Overall, we had a blast! The new galleries were incredible, the food was fresh and tasty, and the music was awesome. Wish the balloons had worked out, but it in no way took away from the fun.
That’s too bad… the photos looked awesome.
Nonetheless, the party was a load of fun. One question: When will we find out the results of the Photo Scavenger Hunt? My date and I had a lot of fun with that one!
Lincoln