McKinney City Council members heard a presentation on the city-led initiative at an Oct. 15 work session meeting.
The specifics
The project will be completed by local artist Alli Koch, founder of Alli K Design and member of McKinney Millhouse. Koch has over 10 years of experience and has completed over 200 murals across the country. She has also published over 15 drawing books, according to a presentation at the meeting.
Koch said the McKinney sculpture will be her first foray into the artistic medium.
“I had actually been studying sculpture works for two months before they even approached ... me,” Koch said. “It was such a serendipitous moment ... I was researching and learning the skills for this, not really knowing where it went or where it was going, and I am so excited for McKinney to be the home of my very first sculpture piece.”
The piece, titled “Ever Blooming," will stand over 25-feet high and feature floral elements including poppies, Indian paintbrushes and primrose.
It will be composed of Corten metal, dark steel and red acrylic, which were chosen to have the sculpture’s colors be cohesive with the surrounding area, she said. The sculpture will also have small boulders around the edge of the roundabout as a buffer.
“It really will make a presence,” Koch said. “When you’re looking down the street, it will be one of the first things that you see.”
The artistic concept of “Ever Blooming” is intended to capture themes such as continuous growth, perpetual renewal and the experience of development, both personally and within a city, according to the presentation.
Quote of note
“I love the work you do and how you’re stepping out for this with such excitement and passion,” Mayor George Fuller said of Koch, noting his support for the sculpture concept.
Diving in deeper
The project is expected to be funded by the city’s Public Art Fund, Cultural District Director Andrew Jones said. The proposed $123,000 budget includes fabrication of the sculptural pieces—five flowers and three grass pieces. It also includes structural engineering, concrete and landscaping, Koch said.
The McKinney Art Commission approved the project prior to it being presented to council members. A resolution to dedicate funding for the project is expected to be presented to council members at a future meeting.
The sculpture will be installed at the roundabout located on East Louisiana Street, just west of Throckmorton Street. It will be adjacent to other East McKinney developments such as Tupps Brewery, the McKinney Flour Mill and the new McKinney City Hall.
“We’ve done a lot of work, many months of reaching out to community members, and we have the buy-in from a lot of the property owners around the area,” Jones said of the project.
Construction on the project is expected to begin in early 2025 and last about six weeks, Jones said. Koch said she would like to see a ribbon-cutting conducted as part of the unveiling of the project.
