April 26, 2022
The Poetry of Geology is a multi-paneled artwork consisting of two wall reliefs installed 20 feet off the floor on facing walls in the three-story light-filled atrium lobby of the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources building. The project was funded by New Mexico’s Art in Public Places program.
The intention of this dynamic design is to activate the architectural space echoing the active forces at play in the earth and to celebrate the knowledge and research that New Mexico Bureau of Geology and New Mexico Tech provide for the state. Visitors will also be inspired to reflect on the elements and natural forces that pervade the region.
Discussions with Bureau, Museum, and Institute personnel helped the artist select imagery that reflects our various missions, including scientific investigations and educational goals. The wall reliefs include references to cartography, volcanic activity, minerals, geologic history, topography, geohydrology, energy resources, geological landmarks, fault lines, strata, and rock formations of New Mexico. Inspired by the complex and profoundly rich and essential subject matter of geology, these image panels portray and suggest such subjects as strata, water aquifers, New Mexico minerals, fossils, topographic maps, lava, and iconic landmarks such as Ship Rock, White Sands, and Carlsbad Caverns.
