Threshold

Photo by DSC Staff

Year Installed: 2016
Artist: Ed Carpenter
Materials: Laminated glass, stainless steel, aluminum
Dimensions: 35′ x 35′
Location: Business Hall
Latitude & Longitude:
39.710162, -75.123179

Threshold was conceived as a transparent and timeless architectural feature that creates a welcoming beacon and icon for Rowan University’s Rohrer College of Business. The sculpture uses interactive and durable materials, including dichroic glass, stainless steel, and aluminum, to reflect light.

In keeping with Rowan University’s wish that the artwork serves as a gateway to the campus, artist Ed Carpenter designed Threshold to abstractly refer to gate imagery, incorporating forms that may remind viewers of gates. The gate metaphor is broadly applicable not only as a celebration of the entrance to the campus but also as a symbol of the passage undertaken by students and graduates of the business school. Gates are symbols of transitions—personal, educational, and professional—precisely the kind of transitions cultivated within the mission of the Rohrer College of Business. Thus, the sculpture serves both as a gateway to the campus and as an icon of passage to the future.

The mercurial reflectivity of dichroic glass gives the work a feeling of luminous vivacity and a spirit of lightness and optimism. At night, the colorful ensemble glows like a beacon.