Public Art - Fort Worth, Texas
One Way, 2025
Steel and paint
Inspired by memories of growing up in rural Midwest landscapes, "One Way" reflects on movement, time, and transformation. As a child, I watched crops grow from the backseat of our family van as rows turned into lines, fields into rhythms.
Research into Fort Worth’s agricultural roots, railroad history, and rapidly growing population echoed those early impressions and deeply informed the design. Located between schools and neighborhoods, the roundabouts became a fitting site to explore daily cycles from commutes and class schedules to planting seasons and shared roads.
The sculpture features 24 colorful metal doilies evoking hay bales, tractor rakes, and dandelions gone to seed and lifted into the air like a field in bloom. Each one incorporates “ONE WAY” signs and arrows, visually shifting as you drive around, much like crops in motion from a car window. From certain angles, the installation forms an infinity symbol; from others, it vanishes into rhythmic lines like rows in a field.
"One Way" was also shaped by road engineering principles, particularly the concept of edge friction, where visual elements at the perimeter of a road or roundabout help guide drivers safely on their way.
The sculpture aims to enhance both visibility and spatial awareness. As the gradient from sky blues to grassy greens follows the roundabout’s flow, it echoes sunrise and sunset of the quiet turning of the Earth that marks time, place, and passage.
Unfolding Time, a new permanent site-specific exhibition along Marine Creek Parkway curated by Iris Bechtol @irisbechtol , and featuring artists Leticia Bajuyo @lbajuyo and Alicia Eggert @aplaceintheuniverse , will be formally dedicated on Saturday, October 18, beginning at 10:00 a.m. at the Fort Worth Public Library – Northwest Branch. All the artists and curators will be present at the event.
The artwork was commissioned by the City of Fort Worth @cityoffortworth through the Fort Worth Public Art Program, which is managed by Arts Fort Worth @artsfortworth.
Funded by the City of Fort Worth 2008 Bond Program (Proposition 1), Unfolding Time features two statement sculptures that encourage viewers to consider time as both endless and cyclical. Situated in the roundabouts at Cromwell-Marine Creek Road and Longhorn Road, the artworks respond to their respective sites by likening them to a clock, conceptualizing time through form and language.
Visit link to watch reel of development and installation
From sketches and steel to 24 metal sculptures rising like a field in bloom, shifting as one passes by, catching sunlight and shadow. Designing, presenting, re-presenting, fabricating, welding, painting, transporting, and, finally, installing in the Texas summer heat.
None of it would’ve happened without the incredible team who cut, lifted, bolted, and welded with skill and grit. I’m so grateful to everyone who worked through heat waves, project delays, and the delicate dance of installing public art in an active traffic circle.
Stealth Industries
North Texas Land Management
AZZ Surface Technologies
Chicago Metal Rolled Products
Kuhn Design, LLC
Fort Worth Public Art
FWPA Project Manager: Michelle Thomas Richardson
Iris Bechtol, Curator Marine Creek Parkway Public Art Project
Here’s to color in motion, teamwork, and the joy of seeing an idea become part of a city’s landscape.
To see some of the in-progress updates - July 26, 2025
For more background about the project - April 15, 2024
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