Embry-Riddle Adds World's Largest Cast-Glass Sculpture to Art Collection
Daytona Beach, FL, August 31, 2012
The new sculpture was crafted by Glassfire Studio of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Embry-Riddle – long known as the world’s premier educator of pilots, engineers and other aviation/aerospace professionals – has a lesser-known creative side, evidenced by the expanding collection of artwork at its Daytona Beach campus that captures the spirit of the aeronautical university.
The school recently dedicated its latest acquisition, the largest cast-glass sculpture in the world, now on permanent display in the state-of-the-art Flight Operations building that opened in 2011. The 18-foot-tall sculpture titled Reaching for New Horizons was crafted by Glassfire Studio of Salt Lake City, Utah.
In keeping with an aviation theme, the colors fused into the three spires of the sculpture transition from green and brown at the stainless steel base, representing the earth, into blue and white at the pinnacle of the structure, representing the sky. Deep inside the glass at the top of the spires can be seen images of hands reaching upward. As a bonus, the lighted structure glows in a variety of colors at night.
The new sculpture was made possible by a generous donation from Dr. Helen Wessel, a longtime friend of the university who has funded the installation of other artwork at the Daytona Beach campus over the years: the Wings of Change mobile and two outdoor pieces – a set of cascading fountains and the monumental Pathways to the Sky sculpture that depicts an eagle morphing into a spaceship.
Additional outdoor sculptures on campus include a life-size depiction of Orville and Wilbur Wright with the Wright Flyer as well as a stainless steel sculpture titled Reaching High whose design suggests the orbits of planets and spacecraft.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world's largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, is a nonprofit, independent institution offering more than 40 baccalaureate, master's and Ph.D. degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business and Engineering. Embry-Riddle educates students at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., and through the Worldwide Campus with more than 150 locations in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The university is a major research center, seeking solutions to real-world problems in partnership with the aerospace industry, other universities and government agencies. For more information, visit http://www.embryriddle.edu, follow us on Twitter (@EmbryRiddle) and facebook.com/EmbryRiddleUniversity, and find expert videos at YouTube.com/EmbryRiddleUniv.
