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SUBSTANCIAL

Grimanesa Amorós SUBSTANCIAL, permanent 33 x 55 x 12-foot public art light sculpture and LED art on the facade of Sun River Health, formerly HRHCare, Peekskill, New York, 2005 to 2007. Acrylic convex-lens LED glowing paper lanterns bearing bilingual words honoring the four founding women of HRHCare flow through a visual river of water-like plastic sheeting, illuminating the health center's community mission in light and color. Light sculpture by Grimanesa Amorós.
Grimanesa Amorós SUBSTANCIAL, permanent 33 x 55 x 12-foot public art light sculpture and LED art on the facade of Sun River Health, formerly HRHCare, Peekskill, New York, 2005 to 2007. Acrylic convex-lens LED glowing paper lanterns bearing bilingual words honoring the four founding women of HRHCare flow through a visual river of water-like plastic sheeting, illuminating the health center's community mission in light and color. Light sculpture by Grimanesa Amorós.
Grimanesa Amorós SUBSTANCIAL, permanent 33 x 55 x 12-foot public art light sculpture and LED art on the facade of Sun River Health, formerly HRHCare, Peekskill, New York, 2005 to 2007. Acrylic convex-lens LED glowing paper lanterns bearing bilingual words honoring the four founding women of HRHCare flow through a visual river of water-like plastic sheeting, illuminating the health center's community mission in light and color. Light sculpture by Grimanesa Amorós.
Grimanesa Amorós SUBSTANCIAL, permanent 33 x 55 x 12-foot public art light sculpture and LED art on the facade of Sun River Health, formerly HRHCare, Peekskill, New York, 2005 to 2007. Acrylic convex-lens LED glowing paper lanterns bearing bilingual words honoring the four founding women of HRHCare flow through a visual river of water-like plastic sheeting, illuminating the health center's community mission in light and color. Light sculpture by Grimanesa Amorós.
Grimanesa Amorós SUBSTANCIAL, permanent 33 x 55 x 12-foot public art light sculpture and LED art on the facade of Sun River Health, formerly HRHCare, Peekskill, New York, 2005 to 2007. Acrylic convex-lens LED glowing paper lanterns bearing bilingual words honoring the four founding women of HRHCare flow through a visual river of water-like plastic sheeting, illuminating the health center's community mission in light and color. Light sculpture by Grimanesa Amorós.
Grimanesa Amorós SUBSTANCIAL, permanent 33 x 55 x 12-foot public art light sculpture and LED art on the facade of Sun River Health, formerly HRHCare, Peekskill, New York, 2005 to 2007. Acrylic convex-lens LED glowing paper lanterns bearing bilingual words honoring the four founding women of HRHCare flow through a visual river of water-like plastic sheeting, illuminating the health center's community mission in light and color. Light sculpture by Grimanesa Amorós.
Grimanesa Amorós SUBSTANCIAL, permanent 33 x 55 x 12-foot public art light sculpture and LED art on the facade of Sun River Health, formerly HRHCare, Peekskill, New York, 2005 to 2007. Acrylic convex-lens LED glowing paper lanterns bearing bilingual words honoring the four founding women of HRHCare flow through a visual river of water-like plastic sheeting, illuminating the health center's community mission in light and color. Light sculpture by Grimanesa Amorós.
Grimanesa Amorós SUBSTANCIAL, permanent 33 x 55 x 12-foot public art light sculpture and LED art on the facade of Sun River Health, formerly HRHCare, Peekskill, New York, 2005 to 2007. Acrylic convex-lens LED glowing paper lanterns bearing bilingual words honoring the four founding women of HRHCare flow through a visual river of water-like plastic sheeting, illuminating the health center's community mission in light and color. Light sculpture by Grimanesa Amorós.
Grimanesa Amoros video thumbnail for SUBSTANCIAL

Location: Sun River Health, New York, NY, 2005 – 2007
33 2/3 ft x 55 1/4 ft x 12 ft (10.26 m x 16.87 m x 3.66 m)
Acrylic, convex lens, LEDs, custom lighting sequence, and electrical hardware.

SUBSTANCIAL is a 55-foot light sculpture installed across the large facade window of the Hudson River Community Health Center in Peekskill, its glowing paper lanterns and flowing water-like sheeting carrying words and phrases drawn directly from interviews with the four founding mothers of the organization as a luminous tribute to the women whose determination built one of New York’s most vital community health networks.

  • Commissioned for Hudson River HealthCare, a network of community health centers serving underserved populations across fourteen sites in southeastern New York State, SUBSTANCIAL marked Amorós’s first major public health institution commission and one of her earliest large-scale facade installations.
  • After conducting interviews with HRHCare’s founding mothers, who remained active in the community more than thirty years after establishing the organization in the early 1970s, Amorós selected words and phrases that embodied the institution’s mission, translating several into Spanish to honor the multicultural communities the centers serve.
  • The installation’s visual language was drawn directly from the building itself, with the lantern forms echoing the orb lights already visible through the facade window and the color palette drawn from the organization’s own public literature, making SUBSTANCIAL a work that grows organically from its institutional context rather than being imposed upon it.
  • A companion artist book documenting SUBSTANCIAL and the Peekskill community was presented at the Art and Book project at Hotel OMM in Barcelona in 2005, curated by Son Projects and Son Espace, extending the work’s reach into the European cultural conversation.

During her research, Grimanesa Amoros learned about the four women who founded HRHCare in the early 1970s and how, after over 30 years, they remain active in the community. Their time and dedication inspired Amoros to create a project about them. Amoros admired their determination and accomplishments. Her strong impulse in approaching this project was to honor these women’s legacy and draw attention to the important organization that emerged from their efforts.

Drawing on interviews with some founding mothers, Amoros selected ideas and phrases that embody HRHCare. Some of the words were translated into Spanish to acknowledge the multicultural community HRHCare serves. Amoros displayed these words across the glowing surfaces of paper lanterns, which flow through a visual river made of water-like plastic sheeting. The colors and shapes of the work, like the words, draw from HRHCare’s existing character. The installation echoes the orb lights already visible through the window and the vibrant hues of the organization’s public literature.

Through lighting, words, texture, and color, Amoros sought to illuminate the Center’s mission, capturing the spirit of HRHCare and its vital role in the community.

Hudson River HealthCare is a network of fourteen community health centers located in Peekskill, Beacon, Poughkeepsie, Amenia, Dover Plains, Pine Plains, New Paltz, Goshen, Haverstraw, Greenport, Walden, and Monticello.