Michael Velliquette, Sparkle Vision City, 2015, sign foam, Baltic birch, mirrored acrylic, stainless steel hardware, enamels, The Ridgewood School, Queens

Sparkle Vision City is an optically spectacular wall sculpture by the artist Michael Velliquette, made from laser-cut high-density foam and mirrored acrylic. The sculpture is planned for the atrium of the newly constructed PS320 in Ridgewood, New York in the summer of 2015. Envisioned as an abstract, fantastical city skyline, the work’s bright, colorful forms and strong compositional rhythms seek to stimulate student’s imaginations by catering to their natural ability to see “things within things”.

The research and inspiration for the design began locally, taking visual cues and design motifs from historic architecture and monuments situated throughout Ridgewood, and that were then integrated with the visual lexicon of Velliquette’s working style. Additionally, the work’s polychromatic palette was also informed by the flag colors of the immigrant populations of the surrounding community.

The siting of the piece within a primary school was considered the educational content inherent to the design, having the ability to prompt student’s interests in foundational visual elements such as line, color, light, shape, and space. Beginning with simple, primary shapes—circles, squares, & triangles—it morphs into increasing layers of interconnectivity. In this way it speaks abstractly about the way things “fit together” and the importance of working from strong foundations. To that end, the work can function as a visual aid for a range of lesson plans, involving for instance: basic arithmetic, creative writing, or drawing.