A NOT SO PRIVATE SKY

Comprising two city blocks situated between the world-renowned Mayo Clinic and thriving with numerous hotels, shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues, the Heart of the City Project seeks to create a vibrant, world-class urban downtown that reflects and amplifies the true character of Rochester, Minnesota.

A Not So Private Sky is one of four artworks commissioned for the project as part of the Peace Plaza redevelopment. Together the artworks create a range of sensory experiences underfoot and above, turning the plaza into a fully immersive experience that allows visitors to find new ways to interact with each other in this shared public space.

Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle’s artwork is a 26 ft tall stack of polished stainless steel dodecahedrons, which represent the shape of carbon atoms: the platonic solids that are the basis of earth, air, water, and life within the universe. The sculpture invites passersby to pause and gaze at the sky, forcing them to alter the way one usually moves through the city.

Taking into account the ethos and the function of the space, the commissioned artwork negotiates a balance between a contemplative and healing atmosphere that reverberates from the clinic, and a vibrant public space that celebrates downtown life, making it uniquely Rochester.

A Not So Private Sky invites residents and Mayo visitors to pause and let themselves be immersed in a community sky-viewing experience, which brings together the two often distant populations of Rochester. The site becomes a space for discovery, contemplation, healing, and community building, which are at the foundation of the Heart of the City Project, which seeks to create a vibrant, world-class urban downtown that reflects and amplifies the true character of Rochester.

Photography by Sahar Coston-Hardy/Esto Photographics, Inc and Vector.