BENTONVILLE -- Osage Park will be the home to a public art piece encouraging viewers to set goals and act upon them.
The piece, Launch Intention, is a 50-foot-long metal sculpture of a "paper airplane" by Los Angeles artist Griffin Loop.
"It naturally takes you back to a time of imagination, creativity," he said. Loop spoke Friday as he rested from moving a section of the sculpture from the exhibit hangar in the Thaden Fieldhouse to a temporary location.
The concept is the idea to clarify dreams then share them with the world, thus launching into action, Loop said.
Paper airplanes are often the first thing a child sees "fly," he said.
"It's catching you at the time in your life where it could spark a lifelong passion or curiosity," he said.
Loop spent the last week in Bentonville creating the sculpture, which will be in Osage Park once the development is completed.
Osage Park is the privately owned 74 acres north of the airport's runway. The Walton Family Foundation is spearheading development of the land with boardwalks winding through the wetland, trails and an expanded Lake Bentonville.
The park will remain private property, but will be open to the public, similar to Compton Gardens, which is owned by the Peel House Foundation.
Loop will return in the spring for the sculpture's installation and to hold an event for the community, he said. Details are yet to be set.
Launch Intention will be a feature connecting the park to the airport's fieldhouse, said Brad Elliott, Summit Aviation general manager. Summit Aviation is the fixed-base operator at the airport.
"The whole goal here is to build something very unique to inspire a young generation to get involved in aviation," Elliott said, explaining that interest in aviation has waned over the years.
"We're trying to generate a new hope and excitement for aviation," he said.
The Airport Advisory Board, airport officials and airport users cast a vision at least six years ago to make the airport an amenity welcoming to and engaging the general public.
Launch Intention isn't the only art piece announced for next year.
PoGlow Sticks should be installed within three to four months once its location is decided, according to Sam Dean, Amazeum executive director. The art uses a series of LED strips encased in acrylic tubes. The lights activate when a sensor is tripped.
Artist Eugene Sargent created the piece as part of Amazeum's Makers-in-Residence program where artists, scientists and engineers conceptualize participatory art, science, nature and technology experiences.
The emergence of public art in Bentonville began in 2014 when the city's tourism agency paid for three pieces on the North Bentonville Trail. The tourism bureau initially set aside $20,000 to increase public art throughout the city. It's incrementally increased its allotment over the years to $54,000 in 2018.
Tourism officials said in 2014 that they hoped other businesses and entities would also invest in public art. Several have over the past few years, whether a mural on the side of a building, a prominent sculpture in front of a development or a metal paper airplane in a park.
Metro on 12/26/2018