By Kira Golden
Early in the morning on Wednesday, October 22, a helicopter lifted an almost two-ton carved granite bench sculpture, created by artist Bruce Beasley and previously located at the Palm Springs Art Museum, to the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. Local philanthropist Bradford Bates, who donated the sculpture to the museum last year in honor of its 75th Anniversary, made the unconventional request to have it relocated to the top of the Tram as a way to share his interpretation of the piece more tangibly with visitors to the Valley.
When asked about the inspiration behind this donation and the unusual location, Bates responded, “Really, it’s the Valley, and coming here four years ago and making this my home; I really learned what the spirit of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley is about: it’s about acceptance, renewal, about forgiveness and creativity.” Bates went on to say that he has been inspired by the community he found here and wanted to give some of that inspiration back to the people that provided it for him. He feels this carved bench, which he renamed New Horizons from its original moniker of Stone Horizons, represents all of these core aspects of the Coachella Valley, and he desired to share those values with those who seek the pensive and inspirational vistas the Tramway has to offer.
Executive Director of the museum, Dr. Steven Nash, explained that the new placement of the sculpture was chosen to provide visitors with “a beautiful place of relaxation and a great panoramic view of the Valley….where one can sit and contemplate nature and the beauty of life.” But getting it to the top of the Tram has not been an easy process.
“We’ve been working for at least a year with the Tram Authority,” Nash continued. “It has been extremely complex, transporting something of that weight by helicopter, and there were various alternative ways of doing it that were proposed.” It was eventually concluded that the helicopter was indeed the best way to go, once certain issues were overcome. Some of those, he went on to explain, were to do with air rights, the lift capacity of the helicopter, and the safety of air travel while carrying such a hefty piece of art.
Those conundrums were explained more fully by the helicopter pilot, a Mr. Tate, who said that the helicopter’s maximum lift capacity is about 6,000 pounds. Weighing in at 3,700 pounds, the sculpture in question is over half that. Furthermore, Tate elaborated on the reasons for the early morning flight. “We wanted to do it when it was nice and cool outside; the aircraft works a lot better in cooler temperatures. Also, the other thing you have to worry about with the mountains is, in the afternoon, the wind picks up.”
To ensure the safety and proper placement of the piece, Tate had already been up to the location to scout the area and landscape so that he’d be familiar with the air currents and landmarks. There were already people waiting at the top of the Tram to grab hold of the piece and place it properly before detaching it from the helicopter. “This should only take ten minutes total,” Tate said with a shrug, “Five minutes to get there and five to place it.” And yet it has been hours and hours in the planning–hard to imagine such a momentous undertaking would be accomplished so quickly.
Now, the beautiful, abstract, yet functional, sculpture resides atop the very mountains its jagged design evokes. It is one of the only pieces of public art to find its home at the lofty elevation of 8,500 feet in the entire nation. One would imagine art is normally not displayed at such a height as it may be more difficult to view; however, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway makes reaching that elevation a simple and enjoyable matter. The Tram is a popular attraction to residents, visitors, and nature-lovers alike, and now made all the more beautiful by the addition of this wonderful and meaningful work of art, where one can view and appreciate the gorgeous panorama of the whole valley laid bare, in peace and comfort.
