Magnificent: Local Sculpture Skates to National Acclaim

Two Austin public art projects were named among the nation's 50 best in Americans for the Arts’ 2012 Public Art Year in Review.

James Edward Talbot’s “Your Essential Magnificence” on South Congress, and Chris Levack’s “Trilobite Shade” and “Iron Wave” for the Austin BMX and Skate Park at House Park were selected from hundreds of entries across the country.

Americans for the Arts announced its selected projects at their annual convention in San Antonio earlier this month.

Talbot’s piece is a large mosaic, cement sculpture on South Congress, near Live Oak Street. The City of Austin's  Arts in Public Places Program commissioned the piece as part of the South Congress Improvement Project.

Levack’s pieces, also commissioned by the city, take influence from the geological history of Shoal Creek with their forms and materials. Both pieces function as more than art, with “Iron Wave” integrated into the park as a skate ramp and “Trilobite Shade” serving as a respite from the heat.

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