7-ton sculpture to be `light as a feather'
A sculpture long planned for Scissortail Park is set to be “light as a feather” after artists agreed with the city to scrap the original design that strongly resembled the 1957 Soviet Sputnik satellite.
It was the spheric design that prompted the city to ask artists Lesley Chang and Jason Klimoski to start again from scratch when the Oklahoma City Thunder announced it planned to build a similar-size sculpture of a basketball across the street as part of a planned Thunder Alley development.
The original Taking Flight sculpture was already approved by both the Arts Commission and Oklahoma City Council when the plans for Thunder Alley were submitted to the Urban Renewal Authority.
Robbie Kienzle, Arts Liaison and Program Planner with the city's planning department, said the artists agreed to the request.
“It became very clear this was something they really needed to do because there are very few symbols that really help display that their thing is basketball,” Kienzle said. “This basketball was of very similar size to Taking Flight.”
The artists asked to stick with the concept of taking flight.
“It was important to them,” Kienzle said. “We have Skydance Bridge, Scissortail Park, and they just saw the story of Oklahoma City as taking flight.”
The artists provided two options. A review committee passed on one resembling a parachute taking flight and instead recommended to the Arts Commission that they approve the design resembling a feather.
Dubbed “Taking Flight: Light as a Feather,” the 31- foot- high, 14,000pound sculpture will resemble a feather floating to the ground, consisting of 276 integrated fiber optics with LED lamps evenly spread throughout the sculpture.
“The curvature of the feather is reminiscent of the posts of Skydance, and marks the entrance to Scissortail Park,” Kienzle said. “At night `Light as a Feather' glows and offers a counterbalance and gathering point to the park's lighting experience.”
Pending approval by the city council, the revised schedule calls for installation of Taking Flight: Light as a Feather by spring 2022. The project budget of $ 692,629 is funded through the 1% for Arts ordinance.
The Thunder Alley project, meanwhile, is on hold but still planned for construction once pandemic restrictions ease and Chesapeake Energy Arena resumes allowing fans to attend games. The development plan includes a new plaza, gift shop, restaurant and enclosed basketball court for visitors.
Staff writer Steve Lackmeyer is a 30-year reporter, columnist and author who covers downtown Oklahoma City and related urban development for The Oklahoman. Contact him at slackmeyer@oklahoman.com. Please support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a subscription today at oklahoman.com/subscribe.