Decades ago, Wichita Falls Park went wild over this piece of art.

       Forty years ago it was the lightning rod for the argument in Wichita Falls, the object of admiration or ridicule.
       A traveler who accidentally steps off the Lloyd Ruby interchange may catch a glimpse of it and ask, “What is this?”
        This is Qiwei. Or at least one artist’s concept of crepe myrtle (slightly south it is spelled crepe).
        To understand why a multicolored, writhing aluminum sculpture ended up in Harold Jones Park (then Bellevue Park), you need to turn back the clock four decades. In the early 80s, two things happened in Wichita Falls. The city is preparing for its 100th anniversary as it recovers from a 1979 tornado that wiped out much of the city.
        City and community leaders decided to make crape myrtle, a flowering shrub known for its resilience, a symbol of goodness for the city. The plant has been symbolically associated with Wichita Falls since at least the 1940s, when the ladies of the Garden Club began a campaign to turn the town into a “crepe myrtle town”. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry presented hundreds of crepe myrtle plants. As the centenary approached, the local bankers decided to do the same.
        In May 1982, the Wichita Falls Arts Council hired New York sculptor George Sugarman to create a 30′ x 17′ x 15′ aluminum sculpture to be delivered in time for the official centenary. The $100,000 cost was split between the city’s hotel tax fund and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. In today’s dollars, that’s $312,000.
        The response was prompt upon opening. Even then-mayor Kenneth Hill complained that the money should be “spent on something other than just a piece of metal.”
       In an age before social media, the sculpture attracted letters from the editors of The Times and the Journal of the Record.
        “This is an underrated sculpture that causes so much hate,” Ann Arnold-Ogden expressed her personal thoughts on the misunderstood work of art. She said she considers herself a “self-proclaimed advocate” of the work.
       Arnold-Ogden is the executive director of the Wichita Falls Arts and Culture Alliance, but she said there has been no talk of doing or contributing to the artwork since she joined the alliance in 2017. money.
       “He was a controversial artist in his day,” she said, but noted that his work has been exhibited at MoMA and most of the world’s major museums.
        “It is unrealistic to have a job of this caliber in our community,” she said. “I’m not going to change anyone’s ingrained opinion about this article. If they hate her, they hate her.”
       If you’re into geocaching, there’s a deck-sized hidden object next to the artwork in the Black Magnetic Box.
       If you like sculptures, want some sculptures to decorate your home, yard or garden. Welcome to contact us. TengYun Carving is the professional manufacturer with 31 years. Our main products include bronze sculptures, stone sculptures, stainless steel sculptures and fiberglass sculptures. We have various sculptures in stock and we can customize any statue based on your need.