Commissioned through the U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) Art-in-Architecture program, Annual Ring is a site-responsive sculpture that uses solar alignment to register cyclical changes in time and light. Constructed from steel and organized around a hemispherical form, the work combines a raised ring with a dome punctuated by apertures that frame the sky and direct sunlight into the sculpture’s interior. As with all of Holt’s public sculptures, the work was fabricated locally.

Like many of Holt’s works, Annual Ring functions as both sculpture and viewing device. The dome is composed of 162 steel bars, and its openings correspond to specific astronomical events, translating the movement of the sun into a visible phenomenon. Holt described the holes as “solar collectors” in her project notes. At solar noon on the summer solstice, the circle of sunlight cast through the 10 ft (3.05 m) diameter opening at the top of the structure is framed by a ring set in the ground, marking an annual celestial occurrence. The center of a smaller aperture is aligned with the North Star, while two 8 ft (2.44 m) diameter side openings are positioned along an east–west axis, framing the rising and setting sun on the equinoxes.

Originally installed on the roof of the solar-heated Federal Building in downtown Saginaw, Michigan, Annual Ring was relocated in 2000 following the building’s demolition, in consultation with Nancy Holt, to the campus of Saginaw Valley State University. The sculpture is now stewarded by the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum and remains accessible to the public on the university campus.