Celebrate the summer solstice at the Center!

The Center of Southwest Studies

celebrates the Summer Solstice on Friday, June 21^st. Doors open at 6:00AM. At the dawn of the summer solstice, a spiral of sunlight makes its way across the gallery walls making for a dazzling display. In our annual celebration of summer, the Center of Southwest Studies will provide a light breakfast and music. This event is open to the public, with free admission and parking.

Situated in the upper northeast corner of the exhibit gallery, the Solstice Window is recessed into the wall. Created by Denver artist Scott Parsons as a part of Colorado’s Art in Public Places Program, the window was integrated into the building’s architecture. Parsons designed the window in tribute to the solstice markers of the Ancestral Puebloans of Southwest Colorado. The spiral cast by the Solstice Window is visible for several weeks before and after the summer solstice, but it is sharpest on solstice morning. Moving with the motion of the earth and sun, the spiral makes its journey across the gallery wall, fading as the sun rises higher in the sky. 

Photograph by John Ninnemann