Published in the Aug. 19 – Sept. 1, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
Photo courtesy City of Morgan Hill
Morgan Hill Principal Planner for Economic Development Edith Ramirez (left), and Assistant City Manager Leslie Little (right) stand next to Napa artist Gordon Huether who is creating a giant “spider” artwork made from headlights. The art piece will be installed on the new downtown Morgan Hill garage now under construction and scheduled to open in December.
The spider costs about $200,000 and was inspired by tarantulas living in the wilderness at nearby Henry W. Coe State Park east of Morgan Hill. A second art work on the garage is a three-story colored glass depiction of the gemstone poppy jasper that costs $225,000.
Huether did an apprenticeship at Universal Glass Studio in Blieskastel, Germany, in 1982. Four years later he attended Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Wash. Huether was in his mid-20s when he started his studio in his Napa garage with just $500.
According to his website, he believes that “public art can considerably enhance a person’s individual experience of a space, shape its environment in a positive way, and hence bestow a new level of perception upon an otherwise every day experience.”
