.png)
The beautification of Veterans Memorial Park doesn’t end with its expansion across the road, as it is set to gain an artistic touch from one of Elgin’s most acclaimed residents.
Margo Sawyer, Elginite and internationally recognized artist, has agreed to construct an installation for the downtown park’s development that will tap into the city’s legacy as the brick capital of the Southwest.
“When we’re looking at what guides art, we look at supporting local artists, businesses and property owners. The artwork needs to be accessible to the public, it needs to illustrate the strengths of the artist’s concept, it needs to have a feasible budget,” said Community Services Director Amy Miller.
The installation will make use of an open wall in the outdoor classroom stage area coming to the park, an 8-by-20-feet surface that serves mechanical and acoustic purposes.
The project has been approved “wholeheartedly” by the Parks and Recreation Board, the Historic Review Board and the Main Street Board, according to Miller.
Elgin Butler will be donating bricks for the project, and Sawyer will supervise and work with masons to ensure the final piece of art reflects the initial intent and design. Support from the Main Street Board and Friends of Elgin Parks, along with private fundraising, will cover additional costs.
A piece of the wall will hold an interpretation that shares Butler’s history and its impact on the community, added Miller.
“Public art is what puts art right there. It’s in your living room, and that’s what our downtown is,” said the director.
Sawyer moved to Elgin in 1997, where she now resides with a studio, and works as a sculpture professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Her bright and prismatic installations have been displayed across the country and internationally, including the Austin Convention Center and the U.S. Embassy in Pristina and Kosovo.
She has received numerous honors and awards for her work, such as the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, the 84th Legislature Texas State Artist of the Year and the American Academy in Rome Fellowship.
Sawyer is “particularly interested in relationships between the experience of space and the experience of transcendence – and the ways in which the architectural and ritual converge to create a forum for contemplation and reflection,” according to her bio found at https://www.margosawyer. com.
