Last August I captured the excitement as several pieces of the “Morning Glories” sculpture were lifted by helicopter from Aquarena Center in San Marcos to the Winn family ranch in Wimberley. (click here to read that blog post.) A few weeks ago that story was revisited by the Statesman, and I was sent along with reporter Ciara O’Rourke to get the next chapter.
The steel and fiberglass sculpture was created for the Aquarena theme park by artist Buck Winn in 1963. Several giant translucent morning glory blooms towered over guests as they boarded a ride at the park, and they also served as a canopy for a sitting area near Spring Lake. A few years ago, Texas State University, which bought the Aquarena theme park, decided to tear down most of the old buildings and restore the area to it’s natural state. That plan included getting rid of the Morning Glories sculpture.
After much debate over where the sculptures would go and who would pay for the move, it was decided that the Winn family and Texas State would pay to have it moved to Wimberley. The move was completed in August 2011, and the sculptures remained erected in a field on the Winn property until a large wind storm (the same one that fueled the Bastrop wild fires) blew through and knocked down most of the blooms, damaging them to the point of needing repairs.
So the question (again) was, what was to be done and who should pay for it?
Andrew Winn, grandson of Buck Winn, has taken the lead role in this project and brought out Art Conservator Robert Marshall to assess the damage and estimate the repair cost. We were there that day.
There were a few things I wanted to communicate through my pictures: 1) the location of the Morning Glories sculptures, 2) the state of disrepair they were in, 3) the size (because they look a lot bigger when they’re laying on the ground and not towering over you), and 4) interaction between Winn and Marshall.
Location was fairly easy. I got wide a shot before everyone got there showing the sculptures in their current position and where they were planned to go (the sticks coming out of the ground mark holes where they will go in the future).
The state of disrepair was a little harder to convey, but Marshall was thorough in his evaluation, pointing out cracked fiberglass, multiple layers of paint and rusted steel.
Next was the size. I was really struck by how large these blooms are. I didn’t realize how big they are until I was standing next to them. I tried to use Winn and Marshall as a comparison scale.
Last was interaction between Winn and Marshall. Once everyone arrived, Ciara and I just kind of hung back and watched as Winn and Marshall discussed. It was clear that they both had opinions on what could be done.
I don’t know what the end result of the meeting was, or if it’s even been resolved. I guess that will be chapter 3.
Click here to read Ciara O’Rourke’s article on the Statesman’s web site.
Click here to read my blog post about about the helicopter move of the Morning Glories.
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