Engineers support the arts.

• Author: Campbell, Melissa

Artist Kim Brown studied architectural design while attending an art and design school in Los Angeles during the 1980s. That emphasis on architecture helped her understand the basic necessities of structural design, aesthetics and safety.

While that training helps in her work, her "Frozen Memories" needed more. For this, Brown had to call in an engineer. "Frozen Memories" is not an affliction of the arctic cold or the mind-draining vortexes; it's art. Several pieces of long, heavy art that will hang from the ceiling along a 280-foot-long moving walkway to connect the new C Concourse with the main terminal at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.

Colored Plexiglas will display screened images of glaciers, wildlife and other scenic Alaska visions that draw travelers northward.

Because these are large pieces that will hang in an area accessible to the public, Brown had to hire an engineer to help with structural and safety issues concerning the work.

Engineers also help artists recognize what realistically can be accomplished in a piece, Brown added. "I'd like it to be floating, but that's just not going to happen."

Working with engineer Nelson Franklin, however, she can try to make it appear to float. Travelers may not see the steel cables that will snake down from the ceiling, grasping the pieces. Or the well-hidden anchors that will keep the work from swaying.

For engineers, working with art sometimes is a nice break from the standard mathematical equations that accompany standard square buildings.

"A lot of our work is two dimensional," said Bruce Hopper, an engineer with USKH. "But these are very interesting projects just because of the geometry. A lot of times, there are complex shapes or curves. I once had to figure out the center of gravity for a big metal eagle."

In December, Hopper was working to figure out how to best hang cut glass crystals from the ceiling of the new Dimond High School library. The New York artist originally was working with an engineer from the same state. When that engineer left the project, the Anchorage School District called Hopper, he said.

Hopper reviewed a sketch of the work, which will resemble the Northern Lights, and determined the glass pieces needed to be attached to the ceiling with cables at 16 separate locations. The real challenge with this project is that he doesn't want to secure the glass too tight-it is designed to sway slightly in the breeze made from the ventilation system-but he...