Takoma
Southern abutment wall facing Cedar Street.
From a Model to a Rainbow, 2011
Sam Gilliam
Glass and ceramic tiles mounted on Aerolam panels
14' h x 39' w
400 sq ft
View video interview with Sam Gilliam about From a Model to a Rainbow
Sam Gilliam created a large-scale mosaic mural inspired by notions of light and color used to transform the space and to create a work of art that reflects the vitality of Takoma. The mural was fabricated in Ravenna, Italy by Miotto Art, based on Sam Gilliam's original design.
I wanted to make a work that is part of its environment, yet changes that environment," said Gilliam. "A work filled with color and light."
"By getting involved in this project, some of us in the Takoma community were hoping that commuters and visitors, while hurrying past with their busy lives, might pause for a moment and be inspired by a beautiful work of public art in their midst," said Dan Turbitt, Chair of the Takoma Mural Committee.
Sam Gilliam (1933 - 2020), is one of America's foremost Color Field and Abstractionist artist who is widely considered a Color Field painter. Gilliam, born in Tupelo, Mississippi, was educated in Louisville, Kentucky, where his family moved when he was eight years old. He held his first solo exhibition in 1955 at his alma mater, the University of Louisville where he received his bachelor's and master's degrees in fine arts. After teaching art in Louisville public schools, in 1962, the artist moved to Washington, DC where he has lived and maintained his studio ever since.
Sam Gilliam is widely known for his large color-stained canvases draped and suspended from walls and ceilings - he is the first painter to introduce the idea of unsupported canvas. His work can be found in public and private collections around the world, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Cleveland Museum of Art, the Corcoran, the Renwick, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and the Phillips, all located in Washington, DC, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Guggenheim Museum, the Tate Gallery in London, to name a few. Gilliam has taught at the Maryland Institute College of Art, the Corcoran School of Art and Carnegie Mellon University and has received numerous honors, awards, commissions, grants and honorary doctorates.
This project was commissioned by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities in cooperation with the Metro Art in Transit Program.