Oklahoma City residents and visitors are invited to a dedication and official lighting ceremony for the newly installed “Light as a Feather” sculpture located on the northeast corner of Scissortail Park, near Oklahoma City Boulevard and Robinson Avenue.

The dedication ceremony is at 5:30 p.m. with the lighting at 6 p.m. on Dec. 21.

The artwork is being dedicated to former Arts Liaison Robbie Kienzle, who transformed Oklahoma City through the 1% for the Arts program and lost her battle with cancer in June.

“Robbie approached each art project with enthusiasm and joy,” said Mayor David Holt. “She expanded Oklahoma City’s art collection and exposed residents to a wide variety of public art created by a diverse group of local and international artists. She was particularly excited about the ‘Light as a Feather’ sculpture.”

The towering 6-ton, 37-foot-long, 31-foot-tall sculpture, titled “Light as a Feather” (Taking Flight), is in the shape of a softly curved feather. The sculpture includes a center spine and 277 steel components, which seem to lightly touch the ground at its center. At night, the sculpture glows, offering a counterbalance and gathering point to Scissortail Park’s lighting experience.

Jason Klimoski and Lesley Chang of StudioKCA in Brooklyn, New York, were commissioned by the City to create the sculpture. Inspiration for the sculpture came to Klimoski and Chang while out in the park. Just in front of them, a bird flapped its wings and took flight. During takeoff, a small feather floated down, landing on their son’s foot. The feather seemed to capture that moment of transition from ground to sky, serving as a reminder of what is possible with enough effort.

“An interaction with Robbie was always a positive experience,” said Maureen Heffernan, CEO of Scissortail Park Foundation and Myriad Gardens Foundation. “You always felt you had her full attention when voicing an opinion or concern. She had a challenging role to find committee consensus to select public art – a process often difficult. However, she oversaw that process competently and so gracefully. The Taking Flight 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 what mythical bird was flying over the Park.”

The $560,000 sculpture was funded by the City’s 1% for Arts Ordinance as part of the construction of MAPS 3 Upper Scissortail Park. The ordinance requires 1% of the budget for City of OKC construction projects to be dedicated to public art. In the future, there will be an additional 1% for Arts project in Lower Scissortail Park. Project details have not been determined.

Visit okc.gov/arts to learn more about the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs and the 1% for Arts Ordinance.