"This was the first time I used clusters of pod-capped staves wrapped with flying ribbons in an architectural setting. Because it is an opera house with the grand vaulted Lobby, I wanted to turn the escalator into a triumphant ceremonial Passage. The ribbons cantilever as far as 20 feet, flowing from right to left across the steps as though the building's energy, it's architectural space, determined it. In the center of the escalator, the ribbons meet in a theatrical gesture from one sculpture to another."  Albert Paley