Public Art Sculpture Moves From Guthrie Green To New Home

For three weeks sculptor Patrick Sullivan has been working on a 10-ton chunk of limestone, creating a piece that honors three contributors to the country’s highway system. The finished sculpture is now at its permanent home in North Tulsa.

6/24/2014 Related Story: Watch Sculptor Create Art At Guthrie Green

The crew from Midwest Crane was getting the sculpture ready to move. Sullivan said it's a bit like watching one of your kids go off to school for the first time.

He started working on it last month. The idea was to create a piece of public art, out in public, so people could watch the process and the progress.

"We had over 500 names in three weeks in our guest book," Sullivan said.

He said he's particularly grateful to the folks who came by with water or lemonade on some of the hottest days.

"A lot of the folks wanted to see it to stay here," he said.

It was always intended to be moved to the new traffic operations building on north Harvard. A city ordinance requires one percent of the cost of new public buildings be dedicated to art; the published cost of this project about $25,000.

It's intended to honor three contributors to our highway system; President Eisenhower who authorized the interstate system, Cyrus Avery, the father of Route 66 and Tulsa police officer Clinton Riggs who developed the yield sign.

"I love all the public work I've done," Sullivan said.