Maya Lin: Art and Environment

The exhibition features the work of renowned artist, architect, and designer Maya Lin. The exhibition focuses on large-scale sculpture that demonstrates Lin’s fascination with water as a subject. Created in materials such as silver, carved and polished marble, steel, and building materials, Lin’s work is conceived through the meticulous use of charting, mapping, and scientific research in determining each sculpture’s ultimate design, layout, and structure.

The timeliness of this exhibition is twofold. The focus on water and the environment is relevant now more than ever, and Lin’s compelling artworks will help raise environmental awareness and challenge visitors to ponder humanity’s relationship with the natural world. The exhibition also celebrates the approaching 20th anniversary of Maya Lin’s Ecliptic, which transformed downtown Grand Rapids’ Rosa Parks Circle into a central gathering space that has evolved into the heart of the city. Over 700,000 people visit this dramatic park and public work of art each year, enjoying ice-skating, concerts, festivals, and other community events. Inspired by the Grand River from which the city is named after, Ecliptic reflects Lin’s interpretation of the three forms of water —liquid, solid, and vapor—through the park’s ice rink and amphitheater, mist fountain, and tablet of flowing water.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.