Mega Event Infinite Magic

Jeremy and Kathleen kindly housed us while we were in OKC. During that time Liz got to help prepare for the Braid Creative open house, and I got to run around Downtown OKC to rediscover my old stomping grounds. So many shiny new things to see. 36 hours later, I wiped my brow from taking in all of the must-sees, and we loaded up for the drive back to Tulsa to board our plane. As we started to say goodbye to our old hometown we made one last stop near the corner of 9th and Broadway. 

The Flaming Lips front man Wayne Coyne founded an art gallery on Automobile Alley dubbed The Womb. The Womb has a psychedelically painted exterior, and houses ever-changing unorthodox art installations. Under the wing of its multi-colored walls sits an Oklahoma-centric shop called Dwelling Spaces. I had frequented the Tulsa location, and was looking forward to stopping at the recently opened OKC shop. It was filled with all things Okie-grown. Oklahoma music, local art prints, and even Wayne Coyne felt finger puppets. We walked out with smiles and Oklahoma swag to take back to the East Coast. The fact that there was a giant, mirror ball right outside the front door was just the cherry on top of the psychedelic sundae.

SkyDance Bridge

For the holidays Liz and I flew back to Oklahoma. We spent the better half of a week playing connect-the-family-and-friends dots. I am fairly certain that we covered a quarter of the state in a matter of days. It was an enjoyable flourish before we hit I-44 to Oklahoma City.

Since I moved from OKC, I had not seen Devon Tower completed, gone to The Mule, eaten at Kitchen 324, visited The Womb, shopped at Dwelling Spaces OKC, or seen anything but plans for SkyDance Bridge. In 36 hours my to-do list was dominated. Doubly so for The Mule and Kitchen 324.

The new-to-me location that I was most looking forward to was SkyDance Bridge. I was curious to check out the structure that Americans for the Arts named one of the nation's 50 best public art projects. The co-designer and manager of the bridge project, Hans Butzer, was also the designer of the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. My unofficial go-to place for solace when I lived in OKC.

SkyDance Bridge is a pedestrian bridge that spans I-40. It measures 380 feet long, 20 feet wide and 197 feet tall. The design was inspired by the scissor-tailed flycatcher, Oklahoma’s state bird. It is almost as if the oversized, metal bird is flying into downtown to perch on the skyline.

The first visit back to OKC was the perfect balance of comfortable familiarity, and genuine appreciation of the continued growth of a city that I still love.