Excelsior
STACY UTLEY & EDWIN HARRIS

PROJECT PROFILE:

Artist Team: Stacy Utley + Edwin Harris
Title: Excelsior
Materials: Steel
Fabrication + Installation: Demiurge
Location: Five Points Plaza, NC

Collectively known as “Excelsior,” the project is named after the historic Excelsior Club, a longtime center of Black social and political life in Charlotte. Individually, the artworks are titled “Ever Upward” and “Even Higher,” the Latin definitions of excelsior.

EVER UPWARDS:
Location: W. Trade Street

Ever Upwards is a cluster of folded laser cut metal panels that represent the collective work of a community. These are laser cut panels that interlock and installed on a concrete foundation. The height of the work is at 7’, that is relatable and interactive at a pedestrian scale. The placement of the four cluster elements are at various points on W Trade Street on the south west side of I77. (please refer to site map)

EVEN HIGHER:
Location: Five Points Plaza

Ever Higher is a sculpted piece consisting of three metal panels with a shared submerged foundation rising from the ground supported by a connected frame. The panels are at a height of 12’, 18’ and 20’. Two of the taller panel reveals imagery through custom perforation of images reflective of the Historic West End and the Five Points area. The shorter panels has a reflective finish where the community can see their reflection. The individual panels form a torch that is illuminated at night. LED spot lights shine upward in the evening from the structure and the imagery in the perforated metals are revealed in a different way.