The Celestial Globe, an art installation marking the 90th anniversary of Griffith Observatory, is the creation of artist Cindy Ingraham Keefer. This contemporary take on the ancient Farnese Atlas sculpture features the Farnese constellations “floating” around a hollow sphere. It’s the Observatory’s first major exhibit in over 19 years.

The art piece is mounted from the floor and rises up above the two-story Gravity’s Stairway that leads from the historic section of the Observatory building down to the Center of Gravity Atrium in the 2006 expanded area of the building. The globe spins thanks to a motor in the barrel underneath it, slowly, just like how our own globe spins on an axis. The sphere structure is constructed of stainless-steel pipe sections with a center bar support. Miyamoto’s services included structural analysis and verification of the project elements. 

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