CODAworx features The Art Studio at RDG’s art installation “Skyward” at the Veterans Memorial Plaza – Chaplain Schmitt Island. 

The May issue of CODAmagazine highlights rich collaborations that highlight the combined talents of everyone involved – artists, designers, architects, art consultants, public art agents, landscape architects, fabricators, lighting designers and more.  

Located in Dubuque, Iowa, Skyward is a soaring spiral of steel beckoning from the end of a curving footbridge. The art installation is designed to evoke the last moments of Father Aloysius H. Schmit, a chaplain in the United States Navy who gave his life rescuing sailors during the attack on Pearl Harbor. A contemplative refuge, the conical shape coils upon itself, enveloping visitors with a pattern to suggest rainfall.  

Local veterans were asked to name an emotional response they would want to evoke. RDG artists and landscape architects worked together to create a concept that would bring forth respect, honor, sacrifice, serenity and gratitude. Sited as the pinnacle element, the steel installation culminates the journey along the memorial pathway with an invitation to enter. 

RDG Planning & Design provided landscape architecture, art services, lighting design, engineering and construction administration across the six-acre site. 

Click to read more about “Skyward” in the latest issue of CODAmagazine.