The city of Missoula Public Art Committee is collaborating with the Missoula Public Library to install new public artwork.
The project will be an interactive piece constructed with hundreds of glass hexagons by Denver-based artist, Mike Lustig.
This is another collaboration between Dashboard and 501c3, an Atlanta-based nonprofit.
The piece will be positioned this Thursday and Friday in the library's entry stairwell at parking level where it will be on display.
The City of Public Art released the following information:
Missoula is receiving a new public artwork! The City of Missoula Public Art Committee is collaborating with the Missoula Public Library to install an amazing new public artwork. Located on the entry stairwell from the parking level, the artwork is an interactive piece constructed with hundreds of glass hexagons by Denver-based artist, Mike Lustig.
The piece is the result of another collaboration between DASHBOARD, an Atlanta based 501c3 nonprofit organization, Lustig, and the Public Art Committee. DASHBOARD, co-founded in 2010, pairs established public art communities in the United States with amazing artists to invigorate non-traditional spaces with unparalleled design and experiential art. Because of the City of Missoula Public Art Committee’s 45+ year successful history in public art, DASHBOARD paired Missoula with artist Lustig, a self-trained artist and lawyer. After Lustig’s visit to Missoula and reviewing a variety of indoor and outdoor sites, the award winning Missoula Public Library was selected as the home for his artwork.
Lustig has been working on the piece throughout the past year and is excited to install his work Jan. 26th & 27th on the library stairwell positioned at a height that gives people of all ages the ability to interact with the piece. An artist talk, open to the public, will take place on the ground level of the Missoula Public Library at 2pm and a dedication/reception will follow at 3pm on Saturday January 28th. Speakers for this dedication will include Dave Strohmaier (County Commissioner), Jordan Hess (Mayor of Missoula), Slaven Lee (Executive Director of Missoula Public Library) and artist Mike Lustig.
Lustig has made sculptures involving light, reflection, dichroics, and analog projection since 2010 and he has a multi-faceted background with fabrication experience in metals, glass, plastics, and electronics. "I research light, color, reflection, and perspective to share dynamic and reactive experiences through sculpture,” Lustig says. “Through this, I use mirrors as feedback systems to provide viewers with opportunities to see themselves in new ways. I am so thrilled to contribute my mirrors to the Missoula library, a center of learning. I hope that the library's visitors can learn something new about themselves by examining their reflections within my sculpture."
The City of Missoula Public Art Committee and Missoula Public Library are hosting a gallery talk by Lustig on Saturday, January 28 at 2:00 pm followed by a reception and dedication at 3:00 pm. The public is invited to attend this historic event in celebration of public art in the Missoula community.