Art on display at Sky Tower at University Hospital

PHOTO BY MARK GREENBERG

Facility: Sky Tower at University Hospital

Location: San Antonio

Artist: Ed Carpenter

Patients and visitors who go to the Sky Tower at University Hospital, San Antonio, enter a new state-of-the art health care facility, but also the equivalent of a museum showcasing work by artists from throughout the United States and several other countries.

One distinctive work is artist Ed Carpenter’s “Foxglove,” an abstract that drops from the top of the three-story lobby and is inspired by the plant of the same name whose tall, stately stalks produce bell-shaped flowers with speckled throats in spring. The design features a wire net holding dozens of dichroic glass medallions that wind their way down one of the large pillars in the lobby. The terrazzo floor, also designed by Carpenter, extends the sculpture and invites visitors to discover new perspectives from inside the piece.

“Foxglove” is one of 1,200 works of art located throughout the 1-million-square-foot Sky Tower and accompanying gardens as part of the Salud-Arte: Art of Healing Program. The program features work by more than 275 artists, representing eight countries and 21 states.