REPUBLIC SQUARE PARK: BLACKBIRD

BLACKBIRD  is a contemporary blend of pop, and traditional art.

The history of this park and its surrounding area includes a period where minority populations including Mexican-Americans lived and worked. The area was aggressively rezoned in the 1920’s resulting in the displacement of minority families and businesses. The core inspiration for BLACKBIRD is to honor the Mexican-American Community.  Her  dark color and flamboyant detail, and her plump form and weighty presence, are deliberate strokes to affix a Oaxacan-inspired imagery to that place, to that locale, yet… the inspiration for BLACKBIRD is not singular.

Popular 60’s music and the “flower-child” imagery of Austin is also expressly invoked. The idealized or social attachment of Austin as a city full of non-conformists, or philosophic, but discounted dreamers, is also at the core of this civic artwork.

The fact is, that during the two year period in which BLACKBIRD was developed in studio, her meaning and iconography evolved, and independent projections are inevitable and encouraged.Ultimately, and in the words of our BLACKBIRD designer, “This piece stands as a reminder to the unrepresented, the broken-winged, or the darkened spirit, to take heart and fly without fear.”

Principal Designer: Holly Young-Kincannon, Assoc. AIA

Master Carver: Joseph Drummond Kincannon