Thomas Sayre, Sunflower Power Poles
SEPTEMBER 2024
Location
Gipson Play Plaza (Lake Wheeler Road)
What if a power pole could be a work of art? We posed that question about the two utility poles on the park's eastern edge along Lake Wheeler Road, and the answer came from the sunflower fields that draw thousands of visitors to the park each summer. The Conservancy commissioned Raleigh sculptor Thomas Sayre, a founding principal of the design firm Clearscapes, to take on the challenge. Working with engineers from Duke Energy, he designed sculptures that could keep the power flowing while becoming something people would stop to look at.
The result is a pair of 73-foot steel sunflowers, each ringed with 48 petals that stretch 8 to 10 feet. They mark the entrance to Gipson Play Plaza and stand out against the skyline for anyone heading into the city. Long after the fields have faded, the park keeps its sunflowers in bloom.
Artist Statement
The sunflower project at Dix Park began with the deceptively simple question of how to evolve the existing Duke Energy power poles into something more attractive at the entrance of the Gipson Play Plaza and which might speak, generally, to the spirit of Dix Park as a unique public space. Sunflowers have become part of the identity of Dix Park after several years of planting large sunflower fields, which have been very popular with a diverse public. Additionally, the shape of a sunflower proved to work quite well to physically hold up large transmission lines.
Beyond the immutable requirements for the safe and efficient transmission of electrical power, the artistic design sought to create a compelling image of sunflowers which reflect the movement of the sun and, in so doing, reflect the colors and shapes of our particular earthly place at Dix Park. All 96 of the sunflower petals present to the sun at different angles of tilt, rotation, and lean, using differing reflective surfaces to create a spectacle that changes in color and sparkle almost infinitely from minute to minute as your position changes via walking or driving.
Perforations across each of the 8-10' petals illustrate the sine wave patterns of how three-phase power travels along the three suspended wires on the north side of Lake Wheeler Road.
Upon completion of the project, it is rewarding to see the poles efficiently continuing to deliver electricity to downtown Raleigh. The poles are doing their utilitarian job. But they are also reflecting the movements of the sun from so many millions of miles away as it illuminates the texture of our very local world along Lake Wheeler Rd. As the sunflower petals turn black and white and all manner of shades of gray on a cloudy day, or reflect the bright green of new spring growth from the surrounding landscape, or the brilliant reds and yellows of sunset, we are experiencing one of the missions of Dix Park: to connect people to the breadth of our world, from far to near, from local to global, from sky to earth.
The sunflower poles show that, indeed, art can sneak into even a power pole where we think there is no room for aesthetics. We can, as a society, make our infrastructure creative.
About Thomas Sayre
Thomas Sayre is an American sculptor and painter. He designs and builds public art projects and private commissions all over the world. His current work includes large paintings made with tar, smoke, gunshots, welding material, earth, and fire. Sayre is a founding principal of the multi-disciplinary design firm Clearscapes, alongside architect Steve Schuster. The team designs numerous civic, educational, and museum buildings.
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Thomas sculpts, paints, and produces commissioned work. His art is housed in collections across the globe from Thailand to Tennessee. He has exhibited his work in a number of private galleries and public museums, including Cheryl Hazan Gallery in Manhattan and the Contemporary Art Museum and the North Carolina Museum of Art, both in Raleigh, North Carolina. In 1995, Sayre received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. In 2014, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of fine arts from North Carolina State University.
Growing up in the shadow of Washington National Cathedral, Thomas’ early art education—and his love and respect of natural materials—came from the stonecutters and the Cathedral. His education continued at St. Albans School, as a Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina, and at the University of Michigan and Cranbrook Academy of Art.
Project partners
Dix Park Conservancy is grateful for the generous contributions from these donors in support of realizing the vision of the Sunflower Power Poles at Dix Park
MAMMOTH ($100K+)
Jan and Andy Ammons
Anonymous Trust
Carol and Jack Fritz
Nellie and Robert Gipson
Pat and Tom Gipson
Linda and Rob Grew
Kane Realty Corporation
Marjorie Hodges and Carlton Midyette
Carlton Midyette III
Rosalie Midyette
skyscraper ($50k-$99k)
Beverley S. Clark
The Family of Thomas and Kate Fonville
Eileen and Mike Hendren
Susan and Bill Hodges
Clifton and Katerina Minsley
SLI Capital/Mack Real Estate Group
Temple Sloan Family Foundation
Susan and Randall Ward
Catherine and Mason Williams
Blanche Spencer Williamson
American Giant ($25k-$49k)
Jo-Anne and Frank Baker
Joan & Prentiss Baker
Bell Schaefer Foundation
Bell Cook Family Foundation
Bell Koonce Burnette Foundation
Jeffrey and Jean Corbett
Jody and Tom Darden
Mary Anne Howard and Steve Schuster
Josephine S. Leiser Foundation
Larry and Debbie Robbins
TRUIST
Sunshine ($10k-$24k)
Grubb Ventures
James M. Hansen
Holt Brothers Construction
Isley Family Foundation
Maynard Family Foundation
Sarah and Terry Reeves
Susan E. Gravely and William G. Ross, Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Sherwood H. Smith, Jr.
Brad and Carole Wilson
Friends of the Sunflower Poles (under $10k)
Chaucer Charitable Foundation
Ralph Funderburk
Orin Kramer
Dempsey and Barbara Benton
Orage Quarles III
Rosemary and Smedes York
Cecilia and Mike Condrey
