The Ashland Public Arts Commission invites the community to a Celebration on Wednesday, November 7 at 4 p.m. to welcome Velocity, by Artist Gordon Huether, into the city’s public art collection. The gathering will take place at the top of the walkway [Theater Corridor] between East Main Street and the city parking garage and the Thomas Theater.

Velocity is a 126-foot long and 10-foot high single sculpture of a bouncing ball ending in a 4-foot diameter acrylic ball containing a programmable color shifting LED light. The location for this public art piece was originally identified by the ad hoc Downtown Beautiful Committee with the intent to visually and spatially enhance the experience of pedestrians on the corridor and adjacent sidewalk, activating the use of the walkway both during the day and at night.

Gordon Huether, internationally known public artist, was awarded the Theatre Corridor public art project in August 2017. Mr. Huether has spent his entire career in the field of public art designing site-specific art installations around the world. His work has been characterized as “colorful, textural, playful…and endlessly engaging”. Much of Mr. Huether’s work is fabricated at his studio in Napa, California by his team of craftsmen recognized for “their innovative, creative and highly professional artistry”.

A goal of public art is to enhance an individual’s experience of a space and its surrounding environment. Huether believes that public art can shape a space in a very positive way, bestowing a new level of engagement to an otherwise everyday experience, and that “truly successful and exceptional public art should make the viewer’s experience of the installation an adventure, a visually and emotionally engaging experience…”. Mr. Huether will talk about his piece at the Celebration.