Arlon Bayliss is a visual artist, glass sculptor, and Professor Emeritus of Art at Anderson University, known for his monumental public art installations situated at various locations across Indiana, as well as for his studio glass and factory art glass represented in European art museum collections. Bayliss has designed glass art series for established brandnames such as Rosenthal, Steuben, Blenko and EOS Murano.
In 1990 Bayliss moved to the US to establish the glass program at Anderson University, where he was distinguished as a Professor Emeritus of Art in 2014. Alongside academic duties, Bayliss has also kept a private professional practice allowing him to design and develop a series of sponsored public artwork, as well as to design studio glass art pieces and collections for renowned Venetian glass and decorative glassmakers. Distinctions received by the artist include the 2017 Honor Award for Monumental Public Art.
Bayliss´s large public art started in 1993 with the inauguration of Helios, a sculpture made up of glass sheets arranged as a double helix, which stands at the center of a fountain outside the Anderson University campus’ main science building. This was followed by the development of the Crystal Arch project, a steel framework carrying hundreds of multi-faceted, multi-colored crystals. This monument was designed by Bayliss jointly with teaching colleague Jason Knapp to celebrate the city’s cultural heritage and diversity and stands today in public display at Anderson City Hall after refurbishing in 2011. Other publicly exhibited glass-made, large sculptures designed and built by Bayliss -often in collaboration with partners- include the following:
Light, Words, Life, made in collaboration with Joyce Brinkman, Indiana Poet Laureate 2002–2008, for the Indianapolis Central Library,
Flight Wave, a three-dimensional composition of multicolored reflective chevrons "flying" on a clear glass wall made in collaboration with his wife Mary Jo Bayliss, for the Indianapolis International Airport,
Between Infinite Stars, comprising three suspended illuminated clouds floating in a large ceiling void at the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation quarters,
Beacon Bloom, a 36-foot tall, outdoor public art sculpture representing a bouquet of flowers in the City of Carmel, Indiana,
Kawaakari: River of Light, a four hundred-foot-long suspended sculpture floating high above the Indianapolis Circle Centre Dining Pavilion, completed in 2019, and
Homage to Hoagy is a sculptural project in preparation to be installed in a roundabout across from the Palladium.
