Other half of East Meets West statue arrives

The other half (or practically speaking, two-thirds) of the massive “East Meets West” statue arrived Thursday at Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza near the Route 66 intersection of Southwest Boulevard and 12th Street in Tulsa.

One part of the bronze that arrived Thursday is the two carriage horses rearing.

The other part is a farmer and his dog in the horse-drawn wagon.

“East Meets West” depicts Cyrus Avery, the “Father of Route 66,” stopping his early model Ford car on Tulsa’s 11th Street Bridge after his vehicle spooked the horses. The statue was funded with a Vision 2025 sales tax for Route 66.

A lot of work remains with the statue. This is a vantage point from the overpass near the plaza, with the original 11th Street Bridge in the background:

A formal dedication of the artwork hasn’t yet been scheduled. I’ve been in contact with one descendant of Avery who’s champing at the bit to attend.

Here’s a mock-up of the finished work:

The 135 percent-size sculpture suffered through cost overruns and three years of delays, including sculptor Robert Summers sustaining serious injuries in a fall.

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