City Hall Dons New Artwork

Spirit of Discovery Installation photo by Cindy Cotte Griffiths

When the artists competing for the bid to commemorate the City’s 150th Anniversary at City Hall were given two potential locations for the artwork, Bonnie Fitzgerald and Ali Mirsky knew they could create art for both spaces and stay within the project’s $75,000 budget. They won and now we are all winners too.

Photo by Cindy Cotte Griffiths

Today the artists and their helpers installed the first part of the Spirit of Discovery. Even before it was completed, this glistening, shining mosaic was already bringing the building to life. Depicting a spinning nebula, the final frontier, it will never look the same twice. The dynamic interplay of the stained glass, glass tiles, recycled bottle glass, and fused glass will reflect light differently at different times. As the artists described, “The artwork will cast shadows and reflect brilliantly depending on the weather, position of the sun and moon and of course the time of day.” The iridescent coating on the black glass also adds to the changing color scheme to create movement and energy.

Measuring approximately 170 square feet, the artwork is dimensional and layered. The mosaics were mounted on a new material used for airplane and marble construction so the lightweight panels allowed the grouting of the mosaic on a flat surface in the studio. This morning the panels were bolted and attached to the building with ease.

The second part of the Spirit of Discovery is a sculpture of a young girl looking at the nebula through a telescope. Bonnie calls her “Celeste” and she’ll look to the future while her telescope acknowledges the past with an old-fashioned design. She’ll be installed on a cement platform by the City of Rockville sign on Maryland Avenue in a couple of weeks.

Photo by Cindy Cotte Griffiths

The artists interviewed city officials and local merchants then researched city history to create the design.

Bonnie previously designed and installed the popular fish fountain in Rockville Town Square at the corner of Maryland Avenue and Middle Lane outside Gordon Biersch. Her warm and welcoming spirit brings a conversation and her artwork into full color. She explained that as soon as she met Ali, she recognized her talent for mosaics and knew they needed to collaborate. Both believe that working together as a team has brought out the best in them. You can tell when you see the Spirit of Discovery.

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