“MADE OF GIRDERS FROM THE OAKLAND BAY BRIDGE BY BAY AREA SCULPTOR MARK BULWINKLE, THE GATE HAD ITS DEDICATION JUST THAT MORNING, BECOMING AN INSTANT LANDMARK…”
– Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times
WE ARE THRILLED TO ANNOUNCE the official installation of Harrison House’s repurposed Bay Bridge steel “Centennial Art Gate,” designed by Mark Bulwinkle, Bay Area artist and longtime friend of Lou, in collaboration with Eva Soltes. Made from the steel sourced from the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge demolition, the project was awarded to the The Harrison House as part of Oakland Museum of California’s “The Bay Bridge Steel Program for Creative Reuse in Civic and Public Art Projects.” The program’s intent is to preserve elements of the original 1936 East Span of the Bay Bridge, as well as its legacy as a major landmark and historic icon, by making salvaged steel available for incorporation into public and civic art projects throughout the state of California.
In 1936, Lou Harrison was on the scene in San Francisco composing avant-garde music with his friend John Cage. They were among the WPA generation that contributed greatly to the modern-art era of the 20th century. The Bay Bridge Gate at Harrison House is a profound example of art that bridges time, distance, lineage and history while adding weight and meaning to the Joshua Tree site that celebrates an important lineage of Bay Area artists.
The Bay Bridge gate was unveiled in commemoration of Lou Harrison’s centennial.
The documentary is directed and produced by filmmaker and music producer, Eva Soltes and is the culmination of two decades of documentation and research resulting in film of more than 300 hours of taped performances, rehearsals, and interviews that were made with Lou Harrison, his life partner William Colvig, and Harrison’s contemporaries and associates. Lou Harrison’s hauntingly beautiful music is interwoven throughout the documentary, illustrating his life with the stylistic changes in his work. Over sixty years of archival imagery helps to paint a comprehensive, yet lyrical portrait of the man, his times and his legacy.