Client: Billingsley Company’s Austin Ranch
Location: Plano, TX, United States
Completion date: 2010
Artwork budget: $750,000
Project Team
Artist
Margo Sawyer, FAAR
Margo Sawyer, FAAR
Landscape Architect
Mesa Design Group
Mesa Design Group
Client
Lucy Billingsley
Billingsley Company
Overview
An integrated artwork that incorporates the design of a Contemplation Plaza, Sawyer pool, sculptural monument plaza/roadway landscape for Billingsley Company. Created for Austin Ranch, to form a centerpiece within Plano, TX. The central focus is a pool with the pool being 6-9″ deep, with three inverted pyramids, each a different color. From above, the color forms a vibrant conversation with the sculptural monument, where one side is hues of blues and the other hues of reds. The articulation of the landscape and hardscape forming a unique environment where the art is lived and played in.
Goals
Each element at Austin Ranch is inspired by my most recent endeavor, Synchronicity of Color, which investigates relationships between color, light, and architecture. I worked closely with the Austin Ranch design team to fully integrate the Synchronicity of Color theme throughout the courtyard, landscape, pool and architectural design elements. The red and blue geometric sculpture serves as a focal point of Sawyer’s vision for Austin Boulevard. Located at the end of Arbor Hills Way in front of the Sawyer Pool, the sculpture was designed to seamlessly blend the natural and artistic elements of Austin Boulevard and the surrounding architecture. The client originally wanted a stand alone sculpture but I presented a cohesive sculptural environment which Billingsley willingly incorporated.
Process
The unique partnership with the developer, Billingsley, inviting artists to collaborate on projects. Bringing artists in as the plans are being created, allows for the integration of art as part of the infrastructure. Billingsley has included artists in all their developments and has supported and given opportunities to artists at a scale, that is too often a missed opportunity. Billingsley, through their history of collecting, have a desire to bring contemporary art to an urban context. Lucilo Pena, visits Miami Basil every year, educating his eye and mind to what is happening to contemporary art. If more developers took on this asset of bring art to their projects art works could have an expansive presence and effect on our society.
Additional Information
Sawyer Pool: Painted aluminum, concrete, glass tile, water and vegetation 15’ x 400’ x 500’ Monument: Automotive paint on aluminum 12’ x 8’6” x 3’6”