Art Project: River Of Blown Glass Approved For New Arena

The Sacramento City Council decided Tuesday to approve a display of  blue and turquoise glass as a large-scale art project in the new downtown arena.

Bryan Valenzuela lives in Sacramento and is the designer of the project. He calls it"Multitudes Converge." He says 400 hand-blown glass balls will be installed to mimic the convergence of the American and Sacramento Rivers.

"They're all hand-blown and all different," he says. "There's a range in color from really deep blues to reflective gold, there's a lot of reflective gold in it. They kind of abstract aquarelle designs all over them."

Valenzuela and his team of 15 people will receive about $300,000 for the sculpture. The glass will be blown in Germany by Franz Mayer Munich.

Shelly Willis is the director of the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission. She says almost all of the $9.5 million budget for arena art has been allocated.

Some work has begun on art installations.

"It is a fast-paced project," says Willis. "But, we are on schedule, but we hope we will have all of the artwork in place at the opening."

Willis says about $200,000 remains in a contingency fund. She says she hopes it isn't needed and will be used to fund one final large art piece for the Golden 1 Center.

It is scheduled to open this October.