Link to additional information and the original website page for the sculpture

Newspaper coverage of the 100th anniversary of Amelia Earhart's birth and the lighting of the Amelia Earhart Memorial Bridge in 1997

The Drawing was made with black and red sharpie pens, white, grey, and red colored pencils on black photo backdrop paper.  The original proposal described the use of neon along the profile of the bridge rather than the fiber optic cable used in the actual sculpture.

The model used to propose the sculpture included a 10' X 10' drawing on black paper as well as a wooden topographical model of the terrain and two sections of red neon that mimicked the profile of the bridge

The decision to fly through a column of light momentarily saturates the cockpit.   However, by flying carefully between the pillars, the true nature of the sculpture is revealed.  As you pass through Amelia’s Gate, time appears to slow offering a uniquely somber and reflective moment.  In this respect, the memorial exists between 1000 and 10,000 feet above the earth. 

The profiles of the bridge are described with illuminated sections of side light fiber-optic cable that automatically change colors four times a year.  The physical qualities of the columns of light are remarkable when encountered in the air and remind us of the fragile compromise that pilots make when they take to the air.

The two beacons set at the peaks of the bridge create a threshold in the night sky that pilots can engage.  The decision to fly through a column of light momentarily saturates the cockpit.   However, by flying carefully between the pillars, the true nature of the sculpture is revealed. 

"Amelia’s Gate" is a permanent sculptural memorial to Amelia Earhart located in Atchison, Kansas and first illuminated on July 24th, 1997, the 100th anniversary of the aviator’s birth.  The 1930’s steel bridge that the sculpture uses as an armature is 2600 feet long and spans the Missouri River connecting Kansas and Missouri.