Throughout the week of October 14th, artist Adam Frelin worked alongside Campus Arts staff to complete installation of the first of four public art pieces coming to the University Park campus. Frelin’s piece, Extended Sunset, now adorns the exterior of Penn State’s Center for Performing Arts, located at Eisenhower Auditorium.
While the project required long hours of what was sometimes physically grueling work, the transformation of the exterior of the auditorium has added a splash of color to a sometimes gray region of campus.
Although not illuminated, Extended Sunset remains visible during the day.
During the day, the six large exterior windows display the color of a central Pennsylvania sunset, but through the use of an astronomical timer and strands of LED lights, the piece comes to life as night dawns. The vibrant sunset now glows throughout each night, fading once again as the sun rises in the morning.
The installation of the project required the use of ladders and scaffolding to meticulously place life-size images of a sunset along the interior of the windows.
Artist Adam Frelin and Campus Art’s Tamryn McDermott secure the image to the window.
During installation, the sun shone into the building’s interior, illuminating the unfinished piece and bringing some excitement to those working on the project.
The interior of Eisenhower was brought to light as the installation moved forwards.
However, the building’s interior did not remain illuminated for long. After securing the images to the windows and placing electrical components, vinyl, blackout curtains were hung to reflect all light outwards. Now that the piece is finished, the interior will continue to function as an unsuspecting conference room, while the building’s exterior will shine bright throughout the night.
As temperatures continue to fall and the days continue to grow shorter, Extended Sunset will continue to brighten campus and bring light into the darkness of night.
Want to keep up on the project? Follow along on Instagram: