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# Santa Monica College Professor to Advise Antarctic Sky Art Installation
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/080106-story/
- Published: 2006-08-01T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T19:07:05.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Daily Press staff*

Thousands of miles from the sun and palm trees of Santa Monica, a local professor will be leading an adventure in a completely different environment.

Santa Monica College astronomy professor Dr. Simon Balm will be the scientific advisor on the creation of a large-scale art installation on the Antarctic Ice Shelf this December as part of a project funded by the National Science Foundation.

Balm will be working with artist Lita Albuquerque of Los Angeles on the installation, which will consist of approximately 100 blue spheres that will reflect a portion of the southern sky on the precise date of the Winter Solstice. Each sphere in the piece will be positioned to reflect a star’s exact location in the sky and placed on the Ross Ice Shelf near McMurdo Sound, in front of the active volcano Mount Erebus.

The NSF’s Artists and Writers Program recently made the decision to invite Albuquerque and her team to do the installation.

“This is an amazing opportunity to combine science and art in such a unique way,” said Balm, who has previously conducted research at the South Pole three times.

As technical advisor, Balm will generate maps and coordinates, and drill holes in the ice for the placement of the spheres. For more information, visit www.stellaraxis.com.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 1, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/080106.pdf?ref=smdp.com)