Soar

“Soar”, a bas-relief sculpture with seating, provides a serene focal point for congregation & contemplation in Chabot Community College’s busy Student Center. Using the cliff swallows of San Juan Capistrano that nest at Chabot as a metaphor for personal growth & transformation, they emerge from the center of the spiral, develop, take form & fly.

Students, faculty & staff first chose Soar from over 600 entries, then from five formal proposals. They also submitted the quotations about life and learning now etched into the spiral adding visual texture that draws the viewer in for a closer look. Feathers and shading details are etched into the three separately installed birds that soar upward.

In addition to offering inspiration & beauty, this project was highly successful because so many stakeholders contributed to the process & final artistic product & because the installation has transformed an area of the building that was being misused for storage into a magnificent gathering place.

“Swallow,” a stunning stainless & cobalt blue coffee kiosk on the same floor & in the sightline of Soar, connects the space visually while providing two distinctly different gathering spaces in the Student Center.