The striking chandelier sculpture hanging in the atrium of Genentech Hall is a significant part of UCSF’s overall public art collection at Mission Bay, and Facilities Services plays a key role in helping to maintain the art.
“Chandelier Project” is very important to the J. Michael Bishop Art Collection at Mission Bay, because it is the inaugural piece installed at that campus as part of the overall UCSF public art program. Installed in 2003, the five-pendant chandelier is the creation of Palm Springs artist Jim Isermann. The artist selected the modernist furniture and personally designed the carpet that features throughout the Genentech Hall atrium, creating a showcase for everyone who enters the building.
The shape, scale, design and colors of the chandelier, furniture and carpet pattern relate to one another. The chandelier is made of powder-coated aluminum, steel and polycarbon. The carpet was made from wet dye injection-printed nylon. The furniture Isermann selected includes Bertoia side, diamond and large diamond chairs, Mies van der Rohe Barcelona tables and Eames dining tables.
Since the installation, Facilities Services has maintained the atrium by monitoring the light source operation and dust accumulation along with regularly cleaning the carpet.
“Cleaning and light source maintenance are performed by outside contractors,” said Facilities Manager Dwayne Taylor.
Earlier this month, Oakland-based Atthowe Fine Art Services used a 77-foot JLG spider lift (photographed, above) to access the lights. “To get the bulk of the dust off the object, without having it fall to the ground, we used six-foot long Swiffer extending dusters for both the painted metal surface and the plastic domes,” Taylor said. “For the plastic domes only, we used microfiber cloths sprayed with plastic-acrylic cleaner to remove any remaining dust and dirt.”
Principal Electrical Engineer, Patrick Dwyer, Chief Engineer (Controls), Arnel Santiago, and Assistant Chief Engineer, Nathan Reyes, worked with Taylor on the project.
The team recently made repairs to some of the sculpture’s LED lights. “We had one string that was working sporadically and another that had some light color temperature issues,” Taylor said. “They’re all working fine now.”
