Solar Art

The solar paneled Sun-Catcher sculpture is part of Sculpture 360, an annual exhibition of public art in the 400 to 600 blocks of Cleveland Street in Clearwater, Florida. This public art and design program is funded through a partnership with the Downtown Development Board.

Recycled aluminum, colored Lucite and a solar panel were used to fabricate the 15 ft. tall Sun-Catcher sculpture for the city of Clearwater, Florida.

"This is the wonderful opportunity for a sustainable public art project along the islands in the Cleveland Street District," explains sculptor/installation artist Deedee Morrison www.deedeemorrisonsculpture.com.

Morrison’s creation couples heavy industrial metals and laser jet cutting methods. The sculpture mirrors the vibrant yellow hues of the sun and incorporates a solar panel atop the “sun totem.” The sculpture uses only the sun’s energy collected each day to cast its warm glow throughout the night.

Morrison says she attempts to imitate nature’s designs in her work, and specializes in large public works made of aluminum, steel, limestone, Lucite and solar-powered lighting.

Morrison Studios is part of a small group of artists-in-residence at the century-old buildings of Wade Sand and Gravel, remnants of

Birmingham, Alabama's industrial boom. Old ovens and pump houses recall the heady days when the site was occupied by Republic Steel, and then the Thomas Coke Works plant. In this historic backdrop and through the support of Birmingham art patrons Robin and Carolyn Wade, owners of Wade Sand and Gravel, each artist has converted studio space here. The group is known as the “Artists of the Thomas Project.”

Morrison Studios consists of the former coal testing lab and an adjacent rail car shed, which she is restoring.
“My studio is adjacent to the quarry, the loading station for rock that comes out the quarry and adjacent to the old coal conveyers belt for the Coke plant,” explains Morrison.