Space society honors local artist
By Chris Oliver
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| LOMBERG: Kona may be next stop for galaxy mural |
Lomberg was chief artist for the 1978-80 television series "Cosmos" and designed the opening animation for the movie
"Contact," released in 1996.
For the past 10 years, Lomberg's mural of the Milky Way galaxy has been on display in the National Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Hawai'i residents don't need to make a trip to the capital, however, to see the mural. The 6-by-8-foot canvas, now on display in the museum's "Where Next, Columbus?" gallery, is most likely heading for the Ellison Onizuka Space Center in Kona.
Space center curator and teacher Nancy Tashima, who is formalizing the mural's loan, said, "We're proud to have an artist of Jon Lomberg's standing in our community."
"Art has a very important role in bridging the gap between science and public understanding," said Lomberg, who grew up in Philadelphia and moved to the Big Island 15 years ago partly because of the role the Mauna Kea observatories play in science.
"The discoveries made at the Gemini Observatory are impressive, and it's exciting for me to work with scientists on the cutting edge of astronomy."
On the Web: Big Island space artist
Jon Lomberg, who started out working with acrylics and oil paints, is now digitally visualizing discoveries made by the Gemini Observatory on Mauna Kea. View his work at these Web sites:
