Eastgate, a sculpture by Professor DeWitt Godfrey, is featured on the 2022 “Best of Denver” list by the Colorado city’s Westword news. “[Godfrey] took a stark departure from the stacked, conical works he’s known for to create this cascading sculpture,” Westword wrote. “But what makes the work so compelling is its metaphorical acknowledgment of its surroundings: The metal materials point to the industrial history of its environment, while the structure serves as a portal to discovering the potential of your surroundings.”
Here’s what it involved:
→ Commissioned by Denver Public Art for the new 39th Avenue Greenway, Eastgate spans 39th Ave. and an adjacent bike path, forming a celebratory entrance to the park.
→ 66′ long, 10′ deep, 24′ high
→ Total weight: 66,280 pounds (~33 tons)
→ Sculpture surface area: 2,400 square feet; unfurled it would be almost the length of a football field
→ 1,376 pieces of 1/4″ Corten steel plate, totaling 5,300 square feet
→ 209 lengths of C3x5 Corten steel channel, totaling 2,556 feet (just short of 1/2 mile)
→ 8,840 stainless steel bolts
The artist says: “Eastgate was a new frontier, a completely new ribbon typology that pushed myself and crew to our limits at every step in the process — from design to final installation. It stands as my most ambitious, labor-intensive, and complex project to date, more than I ever expected.” Godfrey (the Peter L. and Maria T. Kellner Endowed Chair in the arts, creativity and innovation; professor of art and art history) creates unique, site-specific public works of art for cities, institutions, and private clients.