Museum Minute: Rebecca Rutstein
Published April 29, 2022 at 11:37 AM EDT
One of the newest works to enter the collection at the Georgia Museum of Art is also one of the most popular. Rebecca Rutstein’s wall-mounted sculpture “Shimmer” has been greeting visitors to the museum since 2018 and immediately became a popular selfie stop.
Rutstein is both an award-winning artist and an ocean explorer. In 2018, she served as UGA’s Delta Visiting Chair for Global Understanding, embarking on a deep-sea expedition slash artist’s residency with a team of scientists led by UGA’s Samantha Joye.
“Shimmer” is a 64-foot-long steel sculpture inspired by bioluminescent creatures in the ocean’s depths. Walk past one of its sensors and the sculpture comes alive with light, as though microscopic animals have detected a predator. It’s not only beautiful; it’s a great example of how science and art can work together to communicate new information. You can learn more about it at the museum’s upcoming Family Day on May 21.