New Light as a Feather sculpture illuminates the imagination

Oklahoma City residents and visitors are encouraged to join in celebration of the installation of the anticipated Light as a Feather (Taking Flight) sculpture at Scissortail Park during a dedication ceremony Dec. 21. 

The official dedication ceremony will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the lighting at 6 p.m. on the northeast corner of Scissortail Park, near Oklahoma City Boulevard and Robinson Avenue downtown. 

Weighing six tons, standing at 31 feet tall and 37 feet wide, the softly curved feather sculpture contrasts its physical attributes by seeming to just slightly touch the ground at its center. The artwork not only serves as a sort of optical illusion during the day, but also illuminates the night through lighting incorporated throughout its 277 steel components and provides park visitors with an additional point of reference.  

The Light as a Feather artwork has been credited as one of the last to be worked on by late Oklahoma City Arts Liaison Robbie Kienzle. The local community mourned Kienzle following her passing in June and praised her for her enormous impact on the city’s art scene, including initiatives like the 1% for the Arts Ordinance. 

“An interaction with Robbie was always a positive experience,” Maureen Heffernan, CEO of Scissortail Park Foundation and Myriad Botanical Gardens Foundation, said in a release by the City of Oklahoma City. “You always felt you had her full attention when voicing your opinion or concern.” 

Heffernan said Kienzle had a challenging role to find committee consensus to select public art but was able to competently and gracefully oversee the process and the sculpture is, "a wonderful tribute to the impressive legacy she leaves in OKC."

“I love the feather as a symbol of flight, lift and floating aloft and then touching back down to earth to rest before new adventures. The oversized storybook scale inspires one’s imagination to think about what mythical bird was flying over the park.” 

The $560,000 sculpture, funded by the City’s 1% for Arts Ordinance, was designed by Brooklyn, N.Y. artists Jason Klimoski and Lesley Chang. The artists said inspiration for the project came while out in the park. As a nearby bird took flight, a small feather floated down, leaving a trace to be remembered. The city’s release said this represents the transition from ground to sky, serving as a reminder of what is possible with enough effort. 

The Light as a Feather (Taking Flight) sculpture now serves as an additional trace of Kienzle’s legacy in Oklahoma City and as an inspiring public artwork for all to look up to.