Shortly after 9 a.m. this morning, a crane lowered Asheville sculptor Harry McDaniel’s sculpture “Deco Gecko” into place at the western edge of Pritchard Park, downtown.
Click on the image above to view a slideshow by Jason Sandford
The brushed-aluminum sculpture stands 12 feet tall and echoes Art Deco design elements found in downtown Asheville, notably those along the façade of the S&W Cafeteria Building, which faces Pritchard Park.
In late 2007, McDaniel won the city’s first-ever distinction of Public Artist of the Year (scroll down to “Eye of the Beholder”), a title bestowed by Asheville’s Public Art Program as a way of commissioning new art for public spaces. The program, sponsored through a bequest by the Harry F. and Elaine Chaddick Foundation, afforded McDaniel a $10,000 stipend to complete the work.
— Kent Priestley, staff writer
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Cool audio slideshow! And wonderful looking sculpture – i can’t wait to see it in person.