At its meeting July 3, the Grapevine City Council unanimously acted to designate $895,000 to purchase decorative art for its new community plaza. The art, called the Peace Circle, will serve as the focal point of the plaza, which will be developed alongside the Grapevine Main TEXRail train station, the boutique Hotel Vin and parking garage. "This Peace Circle has long been considered for Grapevine to tell its story, and its greatest story as well," said Paul W. McCallum, executive director of the Grapevine Convention and Visitors Bureau. The Peace Circle will be comprised of 11, life-size bronze figures placed in a walkable circle to reflect on the historic peace treaty meeting held at Grapevine Springs with General Sam Houston. The general will be one scultpture, and the 10 Native American nations will comprise the other sculptures in the circle. The width of the circle itself will stretch more than 40 feet across and will be designed for observers to interact and study the sculptures. The Peace Circle will be placed in the southwest corner of the community plaza. Funding for the Peace Circle comes from the Public Art Fund and the Convention and Visitors Bureau Fund. Chief Financial Officer Greg Jordan specified that the Public Art Fund is not taxpayer dollars and comes from city agreements with cell companies. McCallum told city staff the installation will be thoroughly researched to be fully accurate in its design. The city will also seek approval by the Native American nations for the depiction, or leading national sources such as the National Museum of the American Indian, the Texas Historical Commission and the Oklahoma Historical Society, or a combination of these options. Grapevine Artist in Residence Linda Lewis will be the lead sculptor and several other sculptors will be engaged to assist in the completion of individual statues. McCallum said the sculpting will be done in the Grand Gallery of the Convention and Visitors Bureau so that the public can view the process and students and special needs children and adults will be involved in placing clay on the full-size models. Members of the American Indian Nations will also be invited to participate in the process. "The idea is that it's open to the public so that anybody and everybody can see the process," he said. The project has an estimated completion date of May 2020.