Helium Centennial Time Columns Monument, (sculpture).

Helium Centennial Time Columns Monument, (sculpture).

Peter Muller-Munk Assoc., Inc., design firm.

United States Steel Corporation, American Bridge Division, fabricator.

Helium Centennial Time Columns Monument, (sculpture).

Helium Monument, (sculpture).

Modelled 1967. 1968. Dedicated May 17, 1968. Relocated Dec. 16, 1982. Rededicated May 15, 1993.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: 316 stainless steel, Cor-Ten steel, and helium; Base: concrete. (8 1/2 tons).

Sculpture: approx. H. 55 ft. x W. 70 ft.

An abstract sculpture comprised of four stainless steel time capsules. Three of the columns form a tripod with legs approximately 37 feet long. The intersection provides support for a fourth column which is 41 feet long. Suspended from the intersection are four spheres with two elliptical rods, which represent the molecular structure of helium. Two of the spheres are of stainless steel; two are of Cor-Ten steel. The feet of the tripod columns are also of Cor-Ten steel. The time capsules contain artifacts from 1968 sealed in helium. The entire sculpture is mounted on a circular base, with eight stairs leading to it.

Allegory -- Arts & Sciences -- Technology

Outdoor Sculpture -- Texas -- Amarillo

Administered by City of Amarillo, Parks and Recreation Department, 509 East 7th Avenue, P. O. Box 1971, Amarillo, Texas 79101

Located Don Harrington Discovery Center, 1200 Streit Drive, Medical Center Park, Amarillo, Texas

The Time Columns simulate seamless pressure vessels and tubular products that are used to extract, transport and store helium. The monument was erected to mark the 100th anniversary of the discovery of helium. Amarillo was chosen as the site for the monument because the city had been the center of activities related to helium since 1927. About four thousand items are placed in the four helium filled time-capsules. Each time-capsule has a theme intended to illustrate the degree of human dependence on natural resources and the concern for resource needs of future generations. The 25-year capsule signifies man's dependence on natural resources. The 50-year capsule symbolizes industry and its use of natural resources. The 100-year capsule represents science and its development of natural resources. The 1,000-year capsule represents history and human efforts toward conservation. The monument was initially erected at I-40 and Nelson, in Amarillo, but was relocated to its present site in 1982.

Nearby plaque reads: Texas Historical Marker-State Historical Survey Commission/Helium Time Column/Monument and Museum/Erected 1968 commerating (sic) the 100th anniversary of the discovery of helium in the gaseous atmosphere surrounding the sun. (The discovery of traces of helium on earth was first announced in 1895.)/The four time Columns are filled with books, documents, and various artifacts that will tell future generations about life in 1968./After the time columns were filled the caps were welded on and the contents sealed in the helium atmosphere./In 25, 50, 100 & 1,000 years from the time of filling, the four individual columns are to be opened./

Helium is an element which occurs in commercial volume in natural gas produced since 1918 from wells in the Texas Panhandle./In 1929 the first of several helium processing plants began operation near Amarillo./Large quantities of helium extracted from natural gas are stored underground northwest of Amarillo and will provide a valuable source of supply for many years./Once used only in lighter than air craft, helium now serves vital needs in industry, science, and the nation's military and space programs./(1968) (Marker honoring Helium Centennial Committee (list of firms).

IAS files contain transcript of text on all nearby plaques. IAS files contain related articles from the Amarillo Sunday News-Globe, May 9, 1993; from the Amarillo Observer Magazine (April 1993); and a press release from Helium Centennial, dated Dec. 5, 1967.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Texas survey, 1993.

Amarillo Sunday News Globe, May 9, 1993.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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