RAINBOW POWER
2019
Rainbow Recreation Center
13′ x 65′
pixelated glass mosaic
This glass mosaic spans the front stucco walls of the Rainbow Recreation Center entrance. A rainbow landscape inspired by the surface of bubbles creates a colorful backdrop for figures. The figures are based on photographs of youth that are connected through their gestures. Art and science come together as the gestural figures refract light that passes through them. Reflection, refraction and diffraction are all boundary behaviors of waves associated with the bending of the path of a wave. This is what creates rainbows. The wavelengths connect the figures in a metaphor for the sharing of our ideas, culture and friendship. Culture interacts with the individual like light refracting through glass or water. Going back to the work of Morrie Turner for whom this recreation center is named this is an homage to the phrase that he coined “Rainbow Power”.
Commissioned by the City of Oakland Public Art Program, Cultural Affairs Division, Economic & Workforce Development Department.
