Out & About: ‘Dark Planet’ glows on SAMA-Ligonier Valley grounds

Shirley McMarlin | Monday, August 26, 2019 12:01 a.m.

photos: Kim Stepinsky | For the Tribune-Review

The "Dark Planet", a sculpture donated by Don Green, was dedicated at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier Valley on Friday afternoon, August 23, 2019.

Nighttime drivers on Route 711 south of Ligonier will see a glowing orb as they pass the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier Valley.

It’s “Dark Planet,” a newly installed sculpture by artist David Harber of Oxfordshire, England, donated to the museum by Donald Green, in memory of his parents.

The circular piece has interior lighting that shines through the gaps in its thousands of flat grey stones.

The addition to the facility’s Donald M. Robinson Sculpture Park was dedicated during an Aug. 23 ceremony, featuring remarks by Green, SAMA Executive Director Vanessa Houser and site coordinator Kristin Miller.

The sculpture garden is anchored by five geometrical steel pieces created by the late artist Josefa Filkosky, a member of the Seton Hill University art faculty from 1959 until her death in 1999.

The grounds also hold “Noah’s Ark,” a cast aluminum piece by Don Drumm, and “Cattails,” cement over metal by John A. Mayer. “River Woman,” a bronze relief by Glenna Goodacre, is attached to the museum’s outer wall.