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Houston’s $1.3M kinetic sculpture goes still permanently

“Wings Over Water” has needed costly repairs since it debuted in 2017

Wings Over Water sculpture at 1001 Avenida De Las Americas in Houston (Getty)
Wings Over Water sculpture at 1001 Avenida De Las Americas in Houston (Getty)

The largest kinetic outdoor sculpture in the world is now static.

The $1.34 million “Wings Over Water” moving sculpture, which was unveiled outside of the George R. Brown Convention Center shortly before the Super Bowl LI in 2017, doesn’t move anymore, the Houston Chronicle reported.

The city’s plan to fix it? Keep it still.

Tucson artist Joe O’Connell designed the sculpture with wings that were meant to “beat continuously, creating a sense of progress and movement, which truly reflects Houston’s cultural and spiritual associations with hope.”

Over the years the wings have worked intermittently, with the city’s convention department, Houston First Corp. having to repair them each time they failed. Repairs over the years since the sculpture debuted in 2017 have added up to more than $157,000.

Houston First CEO Michael Heckman announced he’s had enough, saying the board will stop trying to repair the sculpture, which means it will no longer be classified as “kinetic.”

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“There have been numerous mechanical issues with it. Our board looked very closely as to what is the best solution for that,” Heckman told the City Council, according to the outlet. “The best long-term plan was to fix it in place and keep it lit, and get the water jets going again. That work is nearly complete. … It won’t move in the future, unfortunately. It’ll be fixed in place, but that was the best solution so we don’t have continuing issues.”

The Houston Arts Alliance, a local hydraulics company, and the artist himself support Houston First’s plans to make the sculpture permanently static.

John Abodeely, CEO of the Houston Arts Alliance, said he thinks the sculpture, even without moving, will still attract tourists.

“I do think it’s fair to say what we wanted out of the piece was bigger than what we got. I do think it’s balanced out by the fact that we went for something really big, we dreamed big and went for it,” Abodeely told the outlet. “It may not have lived up to our expectations, but I do think there is beauty in it. I do think it’s added value, and I think you can see that today. People take pictures of it static and lit up, quite happily.”

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— Victoria Pruitt