Emerging Light: A Journey Through Ice, Water and Sky
Their canvas was massive. That was the first impression Laura Haddad and Tom Drugan had when they stepped inside Baird Center. For the Seattle-based art collaboration—known for transforming public spaces through large-scale public installations—the building itself felt like both an invitation and a challenge.
Haddad and Drugan have been creating public art together for more than two decades. They first met in graduate school in the 1980s, but didn’t formally join forces until 2002, when their inaugural project turned a car into a planter along Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles. From there, the partnership flourished and became known as Haddad|Drugan, eventually amassing nearly 50 public art commissions.
Even so, this project stood apart. Most of their work lives outdoors, shaped by weather and landscape. Baird Center would be only their second indoor installation—and one of their most ambitious.
While every project comes with constraints, Baird Center’s soaring interior called for something expansive. The final piece, titled Floe, stretches roughly 75 feet, running almost the entire length of the North Building, greeting guests as they rise through four levels of escalators.
“When we submitted our proposal and it was accepted, we were just glad they liked it,” Haddad says. “Then, Baird Center and their art consultant said they wanted it even larger. They gave us a lot of freedom and even gave us a little more budget to expand it. We did our best to fill the space as well as we could.”
As with many artistic elements throughout Baird Center, Lake Michigan became the muse. Though unfamiliar with the Great Lake, the artists immersed themselves in research, discovering phenomena like pancake ice and jagged shards that form along the shoreline. Those icy structures sparked the concept of a journey, emerging from below the surface and rising upward.
Suspended from a stainless-steel ceiling frame, the installation unfolds in layers. The journey begins below the ice, with dichroic glass suggesting schools of fish gliding through water. As viewers ascend, oblong acrylic forms evoke drifting ice debris along the shore. At the culmination, small dichroic glass pieces with prismatic, beveled edges serve a dual purpose: birds hovering above the water and a visual crescendo—an airy transformation that comes alive when sunlight hits just right.
“We hope people become curious when they experience the piece,” Haddad says. “They’ll see one piece, then the next, and when they experience the whole thing, maybe they’ll draw some curiosities about Milwaukee, about Wisconsin and their natural qualities. Maybe they’ll explore a bit more to see it all.”
Floe is part of the We Energies Foundation Art Collection located at Baird Center. Haddad|Drugan is one of the thirty-five artists, most from Milwaukee, Wisconsin or with special ties to the area who have works featured in the collection. You can discover more about the artists and their works at https://bairdcenter.com/art-collection/.