The Campus : Galleries and Public Art

DNA tower

DNA Tower stands nearly 20 feet tall in the Van Nuys Medical Science Building.

Perhaps IUPUI's most dramatic public sculpture, DNA Tower by renowned artist Dale Chihuly, dominates Morris Mills Atrium in the School of Medicine's Van Nuys Medical Science Building. DNA Tower was dedicated Sept. 30, 2003, and commissioned as part of the medical school's centennial celebration to honor the 50th anniversary of the discovery of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) by IU alumnus James D. Watson and colleague Francis Crick.

Chihuly's work represents the familiar double helix of DNA, a fundamental part of much of the ongoing research at IUPUI, and spirals upward nearly 20 feet. The metal cage within the structure contains thousands of glass balls of various sizes and colors to signify the building blocks of human life.

DNA Tower consists of numerous hand-blown green, yellow, and blue glass balls.

Chihuly is world renowned for his creativity and the unique nature of his work, much of it freestanding glass structures, towers, baskets and floats, as well as other forms of artistic expression.

» Dale Chihuly official website
» Timelapse video of installation - from Chihuly.com