Van Jones created Sky Temple Suite for the offices of Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc. in San Antonio, where they were mounted high on the walls to be visible above partitioned work stations. The six triptychs depict a panorama of different landscapes linked by a continuous sky, which shows the changes in light and weather in a single day: Jones, who sketched in a 30-mile radius around San Antonio in preparation for the series, said, “It was my hope to provide in these pictures at least some of the constant interest which an be found in an actual view, considering they would form part of people’s work environment.” The suite is organized by the six lights of day; by the fortunate coincidence that the north-south orientation of the walls on which the pieces were to hang corresponded not only to a shift in terrain (hill to the north, prairie to the south) but literally and symbolically to a cultural division in San Antonio itself (Anglo to the north, Latino to the south): and by an architectural framework conceived as a round temple, the six columns of which provide visual continuity between the panels. The Old Jail Art Center acquired the images in 1991.

Van Jones (1951-1989) was a native of Albany, Texas, home to the Old Jail Art Center. A graduate of Rice University, Mr. Jones also earned his architecture degree from that institution, working in the New York office of famed architect I. M. Pei during his graduate studies. He subsequently decided to pursue a career as a visual artist.

6 Three-Fold Notecards with Envelopes