Polaris / 2013 / Minkema College / commission / Municipality of Woerden - This two-part artwork was designed for the two atria in the building. For each space, Michiel Kluiters designed a spherical sculpture that reflects the school’s identity, which can be summed up as ‘unity through diversity’. Both sculptures are real eye-catchers that convey a surprising number of meanings, using both words and imagery. The first sculpture is a large, geometric sphere made of numerous reflective surfaces, hanging in the atrium like an alien comet. It visually splits the room into fragments. The sculpture simultaneously brings all the facets together. The second sculpture captures the identity of the school using words. In the old building, a wall displayed a text that declared that it was not the various religious and cultural backgrounds that were the unifying factor between the students, but the fact that they were young. Kluiters adorned this second sculpture with this text. This sculpture is also spherical, and was inspired by the shape of an armillary sphere, an astronomical model used by astronomers and scientists, and which has been used as a symbol of knowledge.