

Client
Location: Beacon, NY, United States
Completion date: 2015
Artwork budget: $700,000
Project Team
Artist
Melissa McGill
Constellation
Industry Resource
Adam Demchak
Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry
Architect
Kurt Hirschberg
Jan Hird Pokorny Associates
Industry Resource
Jeremy Pyles
Niche Modern
Industry Resource
Deke Hazirjian, Lighting Designer
Lighting Designer
Industry Resource
Thomas Tyler
Times Square Lighting
Industry Resource
Alberto Sid
MAF Technologies Corp. /Electronic Design and System Architecture




Overview
A new constellation emerges nightly over the Bannerman castle ruin on a mysterious island in the Hudson River, 50 miles north of New York City. Melissa McGill’s sculptural light-based public art project, Constellation, launched in June 2015 and is on view through 2017.
Goals
This constellation connects past and present through this inspiring light-based public art project and brings new energy to this majestic part of the Hudson River, and the Hudson Highlands State Park.
Process
Artist Melissa McGill proposed this project to the New York State Office of Parks Recreation and Preservation independently. McGill collaborated with a experienced team to translate this proposal into reality.
Additional Information
Every evening, as the sun goes down, starry lights emerge one by one with the stars of the night sky. Hovering around the perimeter of the castle ruin, these lighted points refer to features of the structure still standing, as well as those details which no longer exist—creating a new constellation connecting past and present through this large-scale sculptural light-based public art project.