Schmidt College of Arts & Humanities
Florida Atlantic University
Boca Raton, FL

One of three finalists designs commissioned by:
Florida Dept. of State, Division of Cultural Affairs

Nine Mirror-lit Windows: 4’-0” wide by 3’-0” ht by 4” deep

German mouthblown glass, lenses, dichroic glass. lead and solder with a protective glazing of tempered glass. Framed in laminate clad frames with recessed mirror.

Site: corridor connecting performing arts theater with classroom wing. One side of corridor has floor to ceiling windows. The Nine Muses would have been inset into the opposite, solid wall of the corridor.

Left

From explanatory notes that accompanied the proposal for the Nine Muses:

Continuous coverage of the window wall the hallway is beyond the scope of this commission. Partial coverage would appear unfinished or piecemeal, and would interfere with views out into the landscaped plaza.

As part of the College of Arts and Humanities, it is appropriate to install the stained glass as a series of canvasses along the hallway wall gallery-style.

Center

The concept of the Nine Muses is used symbolically. Although each of the nine sisters eventually came to preside over specific arts and sciences, their initial symbolic import was as the half-divine, half- human daughters of the union between Zeus and Mnemosyne (the symbolic union of the Creative Spirit and Memory). The stained glass becomes the artifact of creative spirit, while the mirror appropriately becomes the reflection of memory. The arts and sciences, over which they presided, included all intellectual and inspirational disciplines. Their patronage also included Apollo.

Right

Seen from the quadrangle, the interaction of the filmy white fields with the white flashed and dichroic arcs will integrate the Muses into a unified composition with the smooth serenity of the surface of a still (albeit vertical) pond. From outside, the view into this “vertical pond” will reveal bright and mysterious objects just beneath its “surface”. Three Muses will greet those entering the doors at each end of the corridor. From within the hallway the rhythm and cascade of the repetitive design elements will provide a sense of motion and excitement as one walks past while reflections dart playfully within each Muse. Within the long hallway the overall composition will be recognized as a dynamic, sequential progression of line, shape and form.