Cloud Gate

This guide to Cloud Gate in Chicago's Millennium Park follows how the sculpture came together: 168 stainless steel panels formed in an Oakland workshop with help from shipbuilder Ethan Silva, then hoisted onto a hidden steel skeleton and welded by ironworkers. You'll hear about the crew of two dozen polishers who spent months hand-finishing every inch, some suspended in harnesses through Chicago summers. It's a story about the labor hidden behind a famously smooth surface.