''Spiral Galaxy'' is an outdoor stainless steel sculpture by
John David Mooney, installed outside the
Adler Planetarium on
Chicago's
Northerly Island, in the
U.S. state of
Illinois.
Description and history
The work was commissioned by the
Vatican Observatory in 1994 to commemorate the Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena conference, and inspired by
Galileo
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...
's drawings and early photographs of the closest
galaxies
A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. ...
to Earth. The sculpture was installed at
Navy Pier in 1998, then temporarily exhibited in
Sarasota, Florida. ''Spiral Galaxy'' was moved to its current location in 2005, to commemorate the planetarium's 75th anniversary.
See also
*
1998 in art
Events from the year 1998 in art.
Events
*April – Fans of Newcastle United F.C. decorate the newly erected ''Angel of the North'' sculpture with a giant replica of Alan Shearer's no. 9 shirt. Police remove the shirt after about twenty minute ...
*
List of public art in Chicago
The city of Chicago, Illinois, is home to many notable works of public art on permanent display in an outdoor public space.
References
External links
*
{{Public art in the United States
Art, Public
Chicag ...
References
1998 establishments in Illinois
1998 sculptures
Outdoor sculptures in Chicago
Stainless steel sculptures in the United States
Steel sculptures in Illinois
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