New public art adds color, character across Oklahoma City

From oversized Scissortail Flycatchers watching over a city park to a towering red cowboy boot and a larger-than-life slice of cake, new public art is adding color and character across Oklahoma City. 

One of the city's newest installations is receiving its final touches in Lower Scissortail Park. People Watching, a $244,000 installation by artist Matthew Mazzotta, features two approximately 12-foot-tall Scissortail Flycatchers perched about 24 feet in the air, looking down at people passing through the park by various modes of transportation. 

Constructed of painted fiberglass over steel, the installation was funded through Oklahoma City's 1% for Art program and private donations from the Scissortail Park Foundation. Mazzotta is known for incorporating civic participation as the first step in his creative process and creating works specific to the communities where they are installed. 

Artist Matthew Mazzotta's "People Watching" features two approximately 12-foot-tall Scissortail Flycatchers perched about 24 feet above Lower Scissortail Park. 

As People Watching takes its place in Scissortail Park, it joins a wave of public art that has appeared across Oklahoma City over the past several months. The projects have come through a mix of public and private investment, bringing new landmarks to parks, entertainment districts, cultural destinations and neighborhood gathering spaces. 

Leondre Lattimore, public art project manager for the City of Oklahoma City's Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, points to several factors behind that momentum, including the City's 1% for Art program, the work of local arts organizations and increased private investment. 

“Public investment in the Arts is essential, but private investment reinforces the reality that public art is a strong desire for many communities in OKC,” Lattimore said. 

The City's 1% for Art program reserves 1% of publicly funded construction projects for public art. Those funds are tied to the project generating them, meaning public art funding allocated for a project such as Scissortail Park cannot instead be used to create a mural on a privately owned building elsewhere in the city. 

The program also uses a resident- and stakeholder-driven selection process, with committees generally consisting of residents, operations staff and art professionals. Lattimore said the process helps create site-specific projects that respond to the communities surrounding them. 

In Bricktown, Cloud Embrace was dedicated in March at the reimagined United Way Plaza near Reno and Walnut avenues. Commissioned by Visit OKC and Inasmuch Foundation and gifted to the City of Oklahoma City, the immersive sculpture was designed by Creative Machines, led by artist Joseph O'Connell. 

Standing approximately 24 feet tall and 40 feet wide, Cloud Embrace features perforated steel panels that cast changing patterns of light and color during the day. At night, integrated LED lighting illuminates the structure. Visitors can also walk inside the sculpture, making the piece both a work of art and a gathering space along the Bricktown Canal. 

The immersive "Cloud Embrace" sculpture was dedicated in March at the reimagined United Way Plaza in Bricktown. 

A few miles north, Midtown added a decidedly sweeter landmark this spring. 

Light & Airy, created by Sander Henriksen and the team at Heavy, sits in the roundabout at NW 10th Street and Walker Avenue. The illuminated sculpture resembles an oversized slice of layer cake, using playful pop art imagery to celebrate Oklahoma City hospitality and the experience of gathering around food. 

The site-specific sculpture reflects the character of a neighborhood shaped by restaurants, businesses, residents and nearby health care institutions while turning an everyday intersection into an unexpected point of interest. 

"Light & Airy", created by Sander Henriksen and the team at Heavy, brings an oversized slice of layer cake to the roundabout at NW 10th Street and Walker Avenue. 

Nearby, Oklahoma Contemporary's Campbell Art Park became home to Formless Matter and Its Devastating Gestures on May 28. Created by local Oklahoma City artists Denise Duong and Gabriel Friedman, the monumental installation consists of six sculptural forms, including a nearly 13-foot head, a hand and four birdlike spheres. 

Constructed from structural steel and eastern red cedar, the installation explores themes of order and chaos while inviting visitors to move through and interact with the work. Formless Matter and Its Devastating Gestures will remain on view at Campbell Art Park through April 26, 2027. 

Created by local Oklahoma City artists Denise Duong and Gabriel Friedman, "Formless Matter and Its Devastating Gestures" will remain on view at Oklahoma Contemporary's Campbell Art Park through April 26, 2027. 

Public art is also helping Oklahoma City mark a major milestone. 

In June, Kicks 66, a 35-foot-tall red cowboy boot created by local artist Cameron Eagle, opened near the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. The sculpture celebrates the centennial of Route 66 and Oklahoma City's connection to the historic highway, more than 50 miles of which pass through the city. 

Local artist Cameron Eagle's 35-foot-tall "Kicks 66" celebrates the centennial of Route 66 and Oklahoma City's connection to the historic highway. 

New art has also found a home along the streets of Oklahoma City's urban neighborhoods. In West Village, local artist Jesse Warne's Bridges transformed a once-overlooked stretch of fencing at 718 W Main St. into a colorful pedestrian experience. 

The mural's vibrant colors, geometric patterns and repeating lines reflect the rhythm, movement and energy of downtown Oklahoma City. The project was made possible by West Village Association, Downtown OKC Initiatives, Dunlap Codding and Hall Capital. 

Local artist Jesse Warne's "Bridges" transforms a stretch of fencing in West Village with vibrant colors, geometric patterns and repeating lines inspired by the energy of downtown Oklahoma City. 

For Lattimore, public art's impact extends beyond adding something visually interesting to a space. 

“Art is a tool for storytelling, education, and cultural exchange, all of which helps create community,” Lattimore said. “When you integrate these things into public spaces, it creates a sense of ownership and belonging among residents that in return, helps instill long-lasting pride in their neighborhood or community.” 

That investment is also helping strengthen Oklahoma City's creative sector. Lattimore said the growth of arts districts and investment in large-scale public and private art projects have increased the city's ability to retain full-time working artists while making Oklahoma City an increasingly attractive place for artists to base their creative practices. 

And Oklahoma City's next major public art installation is already in the works. 

In July, the Oklahoma City Council selected local artist Matt Goad to create One Voice. One OKC for the new Continental Coliseum. The approximately 80,000-square-foot terrazzo artwork will span the arena's concourses, making it one of the largest public art installations in the city. 

Goad's design uses overlapping concentric sound waves to create a rhythmic pattern throughout the concourse, representing individual voices, movements and moments coming together as one. The concept draws inspiration from the energy of a crowd and the shared experience of thousands of people gathering in the arena. 

The project is being funded through Oklahoma City's 1% for Art program. 

Conceptual artwork for "One Voice. One OKC", an approximately 80,000-square-foot terrazzo design by Oklahoma City artist Matt Goad planned for the new Continental Coliseum. 

Together, the projects represent more than a busy few months for Oklahoma City's arts community. They demonstrate the increasingly visible role art plays in shaping the places where people live, work and spend their time. 

“OKC is more diverse than what people give us credit for, and art is one of the methods in which diversity has been celebrated across our city,” Lattimore said. 

With new installations appearing across the city and more already on the way, public and private investment in art is continuing to shape Oklahoma City's sense of place, strengthen its creative community and tell the city's story in increasingly visible ways.