Donor Wall Designed as an Art Piece for the New Orchestra Iowa Building

Founded in April 1921 as the Cedar Rapids Symphony, Orchestra Iowa’s mission is to foster the enjoyment of, and support for, fine symphonic music through quality performances, education, and community involvement. Being one of the oldest symphony orchestras in the state of Iowa the Symphony Center can now continue its mission after being destroyed by the 2008 flood. This was all made possible by the success of the Opus Capital Campaign.

To recognize the great support Orchestra Iowa designated a main lobby wall to feature a display to celebrate its donors. The question was what to do in this modern new space. An art form on the wall was our solution. Influence came from artist Piet Mondrian for his geometric shapes and patterns. The idea was to create a modern abstract form incorporating the interior colors. But to really enhance the piece we turned it into a sculpture form by using four different depths of blocks, so when arranged together they create many shadows and reflections. This added great character to the donor wall because  it initially gets viewed from the side as people enter so the shapes and depth do not get missed. The six foot square donor wall includes 140 named blocks with 6 giving levels denoted by color and size, hangs as a one piece unit and is framed to match the interior trim in the new space.

The result is a original art form that doubles as a donor wall but really attracts attention, can’t be missed and fits into the modern new space. This original design created for Orchestra Iowa will be a lasting thank you to all  those who helped make the new center possible