Noah’s Ark at the Skirball culminates in a unique interactive sculpture in the South Arroyo garden. Created by MacArthur Prize–winning artist Ned Kahn in partnership with the Skirball’s architect, Moshe Safdie, the Rainbow Mist Arbor extends the final thematic chapter of the Noah’s Ark experience—rainbows—from the galleries into the great outdoors.
The curved metal form reaches twelve feet high and forty feet wide, rising from a base of smooth gray rocks. Visitors approach the sculpture along a pathway and across a teak bridge, and are welcome to stand beneath its cool mist and to touch its perforated surface.* At times of day when the sun shines directly on the sculpture, a natural rainbow appears in the mist.
When designing the sculpture, Kahn and Safdie visualized the whole garden space as a cohesive environment. Kahn explains, “We asked, ‘How can we make this more interesting and attractive, make it more than just an interstitial piece of land?’” They spent time wandering around, listening to visitors’ ideas and concerns, considering the landscape and drainage issues.
“We wanted to create a real rainbow—an ephemeral, fleeting light pattern in the sky, not really there, transparent—so that you could actually wave your hand through it.” Nina Silver, director of Noah’s Ark and Family Programs, says the Rainbow Mist Arbor helps complete the inspirational story behind the exhibition.
“Like a story that is passed down through the years, our collective memory of the vision of a rainbow reminds us that all storms, no matter how difficult, will eventually end. That knowledge helps us imagine a future of promise and opportunity, gives us hope, and helps us persevere.”
In its original place in the Hebrew Bible, the Noah story precedes the advent of Jewish history. Noah is a universal character, and his story describes a collective human memory.
Noah’s Ark at the Skirball incorporates not only this ancient flood tale but also hundreds of others from cultures around the world, evolving well beyond the biblical text to become the Skirball’s own narrative—in keeping with the time-honored Jewish tradition of commentary and interpretation.
The Skirball’s retelling of the Noah’s Ark story is an interpretation of the biblical tale, but it is not just a Jewish story. In fact, the Noah’s Ark story is one of hundreds of different flood stories from cultures all around the world. Most of these stories share three main elements: a big storm that covers the earth in water, an ark or a shelter of some sort, and a rainbow.
In the Noah’s Ark galleries, these three elements are treated like the main chapters of a storybook, and the visitor gets to bring them to life.