Full Bloom on View at City Hall

A new installation by Lance McGoldrick and Valery Jung Estabrook is now open at Gallery One’s Art Vault on City Hall’s first floor. 

Full Bloom transforms the intimacy of the Art Vault into an immersive desert garden scape. Drawing inspiration from the nocturnal flowering datura plant, the installation invites viewers into a space that explores transformation, perception, and the threshold between natural and imagined worlds.

“Government buildings don’t have to be all business,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “They can also house creativity and imagination.”

The space is mirrored on all four walls, creating a visual landscape that expands infinitely beyond the physical confines of the room. Instead of uniform surfaces, reflections are divided into hand-cut panels whose subtle variations introduce slight distortions, with each subsequent reflection receding into the distance.  

Preserved datura flowers line the edges of the room, encased in glass-like resin and illuminated from within. As viewers enter they see their own image repeated among a horizon of infinite glowing blossoms. Even in the stillness, delicate shadows undulate slowly along the floor, giving the illusion that the room itself is alive. 

“Ultimately Full Bloom turns the Art Vault into an expansive world of natural wonder and reflection,” said Lance McGoldrick and Valery Jung Estabrook. “Visitors can slow down and discover something extraordinary within an ordinary place.”

Sometimes referred to as a “moonflower” or “sacred datura,” the datura plant is known for its strikingly beautiful large trumpet flowers that open only at night before fading by midday. It is also notorious for being highly poisonous, with a long history of use as a deliriant in various cultures. With its natural duality, the glowing preserved blossoms used in Full Bloom help create a space that is both alluring and otherworldly. 

Outside the Art Vault, a wall-mounted lunar calendar serves as an interactive artwork and puzzle. Accompanied by a short poem that provides cryptic clues, the calendar reveals a six-digit vault code only when its rotating elements are correctly aligned.

Full Bloom will be on view through September 25. Gallery One hours are 10 am to 4 pm Monday to Friday. Gallery One is located on the first floor of City Hall at 1 Civic Plaza NW.

Learn more at Gallery One's website.