The Horse Field

My job has a certain degree of travel around our city and surrounding areas.  In late June, I had the opportunity to present an educational program at a local business.  This business was part of a planned development along the Trinity River in Fort Worth.  It was formerly the Lockheed Martin Recreation Association.  In addition to the businesses and grocery store, there were also apartments or condos (I'm not exactly sure which).  As part of this development, the also included a few different green areas for the residents to enjoy and the businesses to host events at.  As I was getting ready to leave, I took the "long way" out of the development along the river and stumbled upon an art installation in The Grove portion of the development called the "Horse Field".

It was created by Bob "Daddy-o" Wade.  His well know works included a pair of boots at the North Star Mall in San Antonio and large Iguana that was on a roof of a restaurant in New York City and is now on the roof of the Fort Worth Zoo.

All the carousal horses are lined up nice and neatly, for everyone to enjoy.  They were weathered, but I'm not sure if it was due to their current location or if it was caused by their past life on the carousal.  So whimsical, and so simple.

This was probably my favorite part of the installation.  A carousel horse is joined by a bunch of other carnival ride parts.

The area also had a beautiful deck that had a view of the Trinity River.  I love how they built around the Live Oak trees.  Don't they provide nice dappled shade for the seating below?  It looks like it should have fabulous evening parties with lots of little twinkling lights.  According to the marketing person that set-up my class, this venue is used by some of the business tenants for special events.  It may also be where they hold the story time program they offer (She talked about a tree and a deck, so I'm assuming this is it).

Who wouldn't want to sit in this TCU purple chair?  You could fit the whole family!  We love to show TCU pride here in Fort Worth.

The central section of the Horse Field is lined with sidewalks and alleys of trees.  Bald Cypress on one side and Crepe Myrtle on the other.  Most of the plantings were low maintenance grasses, cast iron plant, and other groundcovers.

Eventually I had to get back to my car and to the office.  Plus it was already hot and I may have parked illegally (the sign wasn't clear), so it was time to go.  I want to try and get back out there another time.  There was another garden space and some stuff for kids I didn't have time (or the ability to stand in the hot Texas sun in the early afternoon) to explore.  Hopefully work will take me that direction again soon.