“The Three Feathers,” created by Rogers-based artist Dayton Castleman, has been added as the first permanent public sculpture to the Bentonville Arts District.
The artwork, which began as an unused utility pole, resembles an enormous arrow, and towers six stories above the new development housing Downtown Bentonville Inc. on Southwest A Street.
The city of Bentonville established the Downtown Arts District, located in the Southwest A Street and South Main Street corridors north of Southwest Eighth Street, as an arts and cultural incubator, focusing on developing visual art and production facilities and the programming associated with those activities.
“We are very encouraged by the ongoing redevelopment and private investment taking place in the Downtown Arts District,” said Troy Galloway, community and economic development director for the City of Bentonville.
“It’s great to see a privately commissioned piece of art making use of the ordinary in such an extraordinary way, right in the heart of the Arts District. The Three Feathers installation will allow our community and its visitors to truly begin to see our Arts District as a place where the arts can be experienced and enjoyed.”
Castleman is a recognized artist whose work has been exhibited in museums, universities and galleries around the world. He is currently the museum manager at 21c Museum Hotel in downtown Bentonville.
“I’m interested in taking an unremarkable object like this old pole and making it new and interesting with a relatively simple gesture, and I’m interested in the way public artworks help form the identity of the places and communities they interact with,” said Castleman, a recent Arkansas Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship recipient.
Large steel and aluminum “feathers” attached near the top of the 60-foot pole are also outfitted with neon, making the sculpture visible from blocks away both day and night.
“The Three Feathers is a delightfully whimsical landmark for the emerging Bentonville Arts District, as it comes alive with new commercial development, restaurants, retail, food trucks and additional housing,” said Daniel Hintz, owner and chief experience architect at The Velocity Group.