An aerial view of the Snake River pays homage to the waterway as the serpentine artery of valley life and history. A steel silhouette illuminated at night by a shifting rainbow of light, “River Reverse” began as the byproduct of “Arrival over the Snake River,” a steel sculpture that traces the river’s course on the arrival wall of Jackson Hole Airport. Featuring only water, the piece produced its inverse when laser cut from steel panels, the riverbanks and islands. The Custom Iron Design team who created it – led by Terry Chambers and including Bland Hoke, Jr. and Shane Lindsey – recognized the riverbanks as a standalone public art piece and approached the Center for the Arts. Former trustee Agnes Bourne nurtured the project. Installed in September 2011, “River Reverse” wraps around the Center’s ceramics studio along the highly-trafficked pathway connecting Glenwood and Cache. The sculpture and its site are perfectly suited to each other: the Snake’s predetermined course magically flows around the building’s features – a window, a stairwell. During the day, light skates across the brushed steel. At night, LED lights mounted underneath the steel beneath plexiglass transform the river into a nocturnal experience like no other in Jackson.

*RIVER IN REVERSE was fabricated by Terry Chambers, Bland Hoke and Shane Lindsay in Jackson WY at Custom Iron Design. The project was generously supported by Agnes Bourne and the Center for the Arts.