SkyDance Bridge In OKC One Of Nation's Top 50 Public Art Projects

Oklahoma City SkyDance Bridge, a public artwork and pedestrian bridge commissioned by the City of Oklahoma City has been named as one of the 50 best public art projects by the 2012 Public Art Network Year in Review by Americans for the Arts, the nation's leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education.

The annual Year in Review program recognizes the most exemplary, innovative, permanent or temporary public art works created or debuted in the past year. The 2012 Year in Review awardees were chosen from more than 393 works from 147 cities across 40 states and three countries.

Three independent public art experts—Jean Greer, principal at The Public Art Collaborative; Daniel Mihalyo, architect/artist at Lead Pencil Studio; and Celia Munoz, artist—curated the 2012 Year in Review. Their selections were announced on June 7 at the Americans for the Arts Public Art Preconference in San Antonio. The artists and commissioning organizations involved in creating and supporting these public art works received letters of congratulations and certificates from Americans for the Arts.

Related Link 4/23/2012:  SkyDance Bridge Officially Unveiled In Oklahoma City

The 380-foot-long Oklahoma City SkyDance pedestrian bridge and sculpture spans Interstate 40 near Harvey Avenue. The bridge's soaring architecture was inspired by Oklahoma's state bird, the scissor-tailed flycatcher.   The pedestrian walkway is 20 feet wide, bridge span: 380-feet long, with a height of 192-feet above the highway.  It is located at the heart of the future MAPS 3 downtown park, which is expected to begin construction next year.

"SkyDance Bridge exemplifies what public art should be for a community," said Stan Carroll, member of the design team.  "It's a great example of pride from the design professionals to the multi-disciplinary teams, to the contractors and the public.  Other design team members are Hans Butzer, Laurent Massenat, Ken Fitzsimmons, Chris Ramseyer, David Wanzer, and Jeremy Gardner."

Related Link 11/22/2011:  Skydance Bridge Over I-40 In OKC To Be Complete In Spring

"By creating a sense of identity of places we inhabit, public art makes an enduring impact on our lives," said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. "We congratulate the artists and commissioning groups of the 12th annual Public Art Year in Review and look forward for honoring more great works in the coming years."

Since 2000, the Public Art Network Year in Review has annually recognized outstanding public art projects through an open call submission and juror selection process. The Year in Review program is the only national award that specifically recognizes public art projects.

Previous Oklahoma City Public Art Projects recognized by the Public Art Network include the Oklahoma City National Memorial by Hans Butzer, Torre Butzer and Sven Berg in 2000 and The History of Bricktown (mosaic murals outside Bricktown Ballpark) by Susan Morrison.