DiscoveryNews • Bemis Center commissions Michael Jones McKean's The Rainbow

Bemis Center commissions Michael Jones McKean’s The Rainbow

OMAHA, NE – The Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts is excited to announce the launch of Michael Jones McKean’s The Rainbow: Certain Principles of Light and Shapes Between Forms.

The Rainbow will create simple, but phenomenal visual events — rainbows in the sky. Twice per day with clear sun, for 20 minutes each, a rainbow will appear above the Bemis Center’s roof in downtown Omaha. The rainbows will be created using sunlight, renewable energy and 100% captured rainwater.

A decade in the making, The Rainbow represents extraordinary cross-disciplinary collaboration. Irrigation and rainwater harvesting experts from Omaha-based Lindsay Corporation, structural and mechanical engineers, atmospheric scientists and Bemis Center staff have joined artist Michael Jones McKean in creating a wholly integrated system for this site-specific, temporary public artwork and exhibition.

Whether a majestic arch in the sky that appears after a spring shower or a small, homespun rainbow created with a garden hose on a sunny day, a rainbow operates as an egalitarian and borderless phenomena. The Rainbow is a work of significant logistical complexity, designed to realize a silent, delicate and temporary visual experience. The work provides a direct and momentous experience of art, science, ecology and wonder.

Depending on rainfalls levels, rainbow production will begin in early June and run through September 15. An inaugural series of events is planned for Thursday, June 21 through Saturday, June 23 featuring public discussions, presentations by the artist and tours led by the project team.

The Rainbow is curated by Hesse McGraw, Bemis Center chief curator. For more information on the project or for print resolution images, please contact Logan Seacrest, Bemis Center Communications Manager at logan@bemiscenter.org Further information is available at www.TheRainbow.org and at the Bemis Center website.