Elena Colombo Sculpture

ArtsQuest unveils steel and fire sculpture for future SteelStacks arts complex

ArtsQuest today unveiled designs for a 75-foot-long sculpture at the future SteelStacks arts complex made of both steel and fire to symbolize the revitalization of Bethlehem Steel.

"The Bridge," as the sculpture will be called, is a cantilever bridge that pays homage to all the bridges that were made out of Bethlehem Steel, officials said. The sculpture also will be engraved with the names of dozens of famous structures built with Bethlehem Steel, including the Golden Gate Bridge, Rockefeller Center and the U.S. Supreme Court.

The fire part of the sculpture will burn blue to honor the time when the blast furnaces, which the sculpture will be in front of, were in operation and burned continuous blue flames, ArtsQuest President Jeff Parks said.

The sculpture will be made by one of few fire sculptors in the country, Elena Colombo, a New York City resident who grew up in Scranton. The sculpture is expected to be 30 feet high. It will be centered in the courtyard in front of the 65,000-square-foot performing arts center ArtsQuest is building on the former Steel site and will stretch over East First Street, Parks said.

"I think this is going to be a nationally known and iconic sculpture," said Janice Lipzin, ArtsQuests director of visual arts and education and a member of the sculpture selection committee.

The $400,000 sculpture is being funded by a $200,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant and $200,000 in donations. ArtsQuest is working to raise the $200,000 in donations in addition to the $3 million the organization needs to raise to complete the $26 million performing arts center.

The sculpture is expected to debut when the performing arts center opens April 30.