Spirit Wings: 7-piece art sculpture debuts along K Street in Sacramento
SACRAMENTO — Seven pieces of art have been seven years in the making along K Street and the Old Sacramento Waterfront.
The project was finally unveiled Tuesday near the Delta King.
"It was very rewarding to finally see it come to fruition," said Garr Ugalde, the artist behind the project.
Ugalde was on hand to see the debut of the new placemaking landmark that is highlighted by a series of seven bird sculptures down K Street.
"The idea came from the interplay between the river and nature and humans that settled here in Sacramento," Ugalde said.
The $40,000 interactive art activation called "Spirit Wings" is finally soaring thanks to the help of co-creator Phil Tretheway — so why did it take so long?
"We decided to tackle a placemaking project based on passion," Tretheway said.
He enlisted the help of the Sacramento Metro Chamber Foundation, the Downtown Sacramento Foundation and Metro Edge, which is a young professional membership association.
"They funded an idea. Then we went and found an artist. Then the artist created the sculptures. Then we decided where they were going because we knew what the sculptors were," Tretheway said.
The sculptures transform from a bird to a human in flight as onlookers view the pieces while walking along a one-mile stretch of downtown.
"It's an incredible story of investing in local artists, of doing something nobody has done before and being super resilient," said Sacramento City Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela.
Valenzuela hopes the sculptures are a way to draw people in.
"Downtown has always had challenges, and I think coming out of this pandemic, I think we're a little stuck. I think we need the people to come back, so we can keep doing these great concerts, these great activations. So I think this will be a great reason for folks to come explore K Street," she said.
Organizers say the Spirit Wings project will be detailed in brochures at area hotels and on travel websites.