FORT WORTH -- Cowtown may soon get a new piece of Mexican outdoor art, via Chicago's Millennium Park.
Tabachin Ribbon, a yellow-painted carbon steel sculpture weighing up to 8,000 pounds and produced by the Mexican artist Yvonne Domenge, has been temporarily on display for nearly a year and a half at the famed Millennium Park, a combination of public art, waterscape and common space in downtown Chicago.The Millennium Park director offered the sculpture to Fort Worth after he spoke at the city's 10th anniversary of the Public Art program last November, said Martha Peters, vice president of public art for the Arts Council of Fort Worth & Tarrant County, which runs Fort Worth's public art program."It's colorful, it's abstract, it's the kind of piece that would put a kind of smile on your face," Peters said.The Fort Worth Arts Commission voted to pursue the donation, which Peters estimated to be worth $150,000.Fort Worth has to pay the costs of transportation and installation, estimated at up to $60,000.The City Council in the next few weeks is expected to consider approving the expenditure from next year's public art budget.The sculpture would likely be placed on the plaza in front of the city's municipal courts building at 1000 Throckmorton St. downtown, Peters said.The city must first build a pedestal and install lighting for the sculpture, Peters said.The sculpture must leave Chicago by the third week of October, making it likely Fort Worth will have to store it for a short time, Peters said.Installation here would likely be complete by early 2013 at the latest, she said."A piece like this offers an opportunity to kind of enliven a space that doesn't have much going on," Peters said.Tabachin Ribbon refers to a Mexican tree. Domenge created it in 2010, Peters said.She created four others, which also are on temporary display at Millennium Park and will be moved to other sites in the United States.Tabachin Ribbon has five pieces that are bolted together and can be unbolted for transport, she said. The piece is 13 feet in diameter.Scott Nishimura,817-390-7808Twitter: @JScottNishimuraHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
