COMMUNITY-INSPIRED PUBLIC ART AT NEW CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS
Hodges Taylor is grateful to be in the process of facilitating three large-scale public art commissions for Duke Energy’s new headquarters in uptown Charlotte to celebrate the city and the company’s clean energy mission. The works of art will be freely accessible to the public and emphasize the company’s commitment to powering the vitality of its communities.
“Our new headquarters will add to Charlotte’s stunning skyline and be a place to connect, innovate and inspire as part of the city’s vibrant uptown community,” said Donna Council, senior vice president of Administrative Services. “We wanted to share Duke Energy’s core values and clean energy mission in visually dynamic ways.”
Installation of the photon sculptures is scheduled to begin in early February and continue through March. The Brooklyn mural and interior Experience Hall are scheduled to begin installation this summer. Renderings courtesy of the artists.
Passersby outside Duke Energy Plaza’s main entrance on South Tryon Street will be greeted with two illuminated sculptures by Charlotte-based artist Ivan Toth Depeña. The pieces visualize photons, the smallest particles of light not visible to the human eye and the basis for solar generation. Behind the sculptures – the larger of which is nearly 40 feet tall – the building’s façade will feature a six-story panel with a silhouette of Depeña’s interpretation of a photon, creating a striking backdrop to the towering works of art.
Affixed to the Brooklyn Village Avenue-facing façade of Duke Energy Plaza will be a three-dimensional mural by Nigerian native and Brooklyn, NY-based artist Olalekan Jeyifous. The piece symbolizes the rich history and cultural heritage of the former Brooklyn neighborhood, a predominantly Black community in Charlotte’s Second Ward that was razed in the city’s “urban renewal” movement in the 1960s and ’70s. While designing the mural, Jeyifous consulted with the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture and met with civic leaders and former members of the historic Brooklyn community.
An immersive installation by Chicago-based art duo Luftwerk will be inside Duke Energy Plaza’s Experience Hall, an extension of the main lobby and casual gathering space during normal business hours. Titled Journey of the Sun, a sculpture of 85 colorful, translucent glass discs will be suspended from the ceiling in a slender, figure-eight curve representing the sun’s path across the sky over the course of a year. The piece also features complementary motion graphic animations to be displayed along the space’s nearly 60-foot-long AV wall. Together, the sculpture and video are designed to capture the movement of time and light, creating an immersive experience for employees and visitors alike.