The installation at Fox Ridge Nature Park was the first created in a unified series comprising six locations stretching from Del Rio, TX, to Aroostook Co., ME. “Now and then speaks to the unity of Nature-cosmos, honoring the spirit of creation found in landscape. Emphasizing its awesome power and beauty. 

The series may be the “longest” installation of its type in the US—maybe anywhere!! The three sculptures occupying one of the rewilded greens on the Fox Ridge bluff, stand close to the mighty and mythic Wabash River. Further down the watershed, two sculptures stand on the ridge near historic Fort D in Cape Girardeau, MO!!

The line (Trace) of the installations took its cue from the path of totality of the April 8th, 2024 eclipse. The passing shadow of the moon touched all fifteen sculptures. The placing of the three sculptural rigs in Vincennes was partly inspired by astronomy telescope groupings found in various locations around the world—an ironic touch, since the mounted tondos of the rigs cannot move—time, the Seasons, our lives, the Cosmos ARE all moving. “Now and then” calls our attention to the preciousness of time, of our lives here on Earth. The rigs stand facing different directions, capturing the sunlight whenever the sky is clear. The wind blows through the pierced oculi; the shadows of the rigs act as sundials, create ground patterns that repeat, but never in quite the same way from year to year.

Visitors at any of the sites across the US can document their visit to a “Now and then” installation, conceptually linking Vincennes with Del Rio, Cape Girardeau, Bloomington, Indy, and Maine.

Grade Level: 3–6
Project Title: Memory Towers
Objective: Reflect on past and present through repeated form.
Activity: Students construct three small, similar sculptures (from cardboard or wood blocks) representing a memory “then,” a moment “now,” and a vision for the future.

Now and Then is a trio of nearly identical vertical sculptures constructed from reclaimed wood and arranged as a unified installation—a group of works designed to be experienced together within a specific environment. Dean describes the project as honoring “the unity of Nature-cosmos,” linking material transformation with celestial movement. Inspired by the path of totality of the April 8, 2024 solar eclipse, the repeated forms emphasize cycles, memory, and variation within sameness, where reclaimed materials carry traces of past use into a shared sculptural presence.

Positioned to interact with light, wind, and seasonal change, the structures function as environmental markers of time. Their instrument-like forms echo astronomical devices, inviting viewers to observe shifting shadows and movement as integral parts of the work, where weathering and transformation unfold as ongoing components of the sculpture itself.