17The Feather Made of Stone

A feather is the world's shorthand for lightness — it's in every language, every poem, every pillow ad. So of course somebody carved one out of royal red granite, stood it on end taller than a person, and planted it on the Chamber of Commerce lawn where it will outlast every building in view. The placard reads: Blood Feather, Rolando Saenz, born 1955 — a local sculptor and artist with works all over the state of Texas, acquired for the Chamber Collection through the generosity of past chairs of the Chamber. Creative Waco's public art map fills in the rest: carved in 2005, the name means living feather — transformation and renewal, a tribute to all the people of Waco — shown at Cultural Arts of Waco's Waco National Outdoor Sculpture Invitational in 2006 and acquired for the collection in 2008.

It shares the lawn with Spadix, the bronze knot a hundred steps north — stop 16 on this walk — which makes this small stretch of grass a two-piece sculpture garden run by, of all things, a chamber of commerce. Walk between them once: a wave you can't unknot, and a feather you couldn't lift with a truck.