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Articles

Posted on: August 16, 2022

Arts!Longview installs two sculptures in Cultural District

Life is a Balancing Act Statue

Arts!Longview installed two additional sculptures in the Cultural District on Thursday, August 11. A piece

entitled, “Pegasus IV: Liftoff,” was installed on the lawn in front of Longview City Hall while another

sculpture titled, “Life is a Balancing Act,” was installed in front of the LeTourneau University Belcher

Center.

“These sculptures are part of our ongoing efforts to continuing enhancing our community through the

arts. We hope both pieces will serve as inspiration for those in our community and beyond,” said

Christina Cavazos, executive director of Arts!Longview.

“Pegasus IV: Liftoff” was created by artist Tom Gingras, of Spicewood. The sculpture, which stands are

more than 7 feet tall, was fabricated from welded mild steel, bronze and copper.

Gingras is familiar with East Texas. He lived in Tyler in the 1970s and studied at Texas Eastern University

(today known as the University of Texas at Tyler). After college, Gingras briefly taught at Tyler Junior

College. He moved to Austin in 1980 and taught art classes over the years. Now retired, he's continuing

to create art.

Gingras said he hopes Pegasus serves to inspire the community in Longview.

"Dream the impossible dream, and put yourself in it," he said.

At the Belcher Center, “Life is a Balancing Act” is a bronze sculpture that features a young girl wearing a

leotard practicing balance. It was created by artist Cindy Debold, who resides near Lake Travis. In her

sculptures, Debold strives to create work that is realistic and that captures emotion.

“‘Life is a Balancing Act' is a sculpture of a young girl, relaxed and self-confident, balancing on one foot

with her eyes closed. The sculpture is a visual metaphor of its title, in that maintaining a balance

between health, family, work and play is very important, though not always easy,” Debold said. “The

closed eyes are symbolic of ‘trust' in the future, our intuition, and on another level, the ultimate

benevolence in the universe. My hope is that someday all children can enjoy the adventures and

challenges of life with a sense of trust in themselves and each other.”


In selecting the sculpture locations, Cavazos said it seemed fitting to place them at City Hall and the

Belcher Center, respectively.

“Our community has a rich history in the oil industry and the Pegasus sculpture, while whimsical and

fantastic, also is a nod to that history. We could think of no better location than on the lawn in front of

Longview City Hall, where it will be well protected while also offering easy access to be viewed by

people in our community and beyond,” Cavazos said. “With ‘Life is a Balancing Act,’ the LeTourneau

University Belcher Center was the ideal location. The Belcher Center is not only one of our partner arts

organizations, but it also serves as the performance home to many other arts organizations in our

community. This young girl vividly reminded us of our own community of dancers throughout Longview

Ballet Theatre’s rich, 50-year history. We hope she will greet will the next generation of dancers as they

visit the Belcher Center.”

Both sculptures were installed Wednesday as part of a grant project through funding from the Texas

Commission on the Arts. Arts!Longview received grant funding from the TCA in the fall of 2021 to help

fund sculptures in the Cultural District. The Texas Commission on the Arts grant is a 1:1 matching grant.

The Rosa May Griffin Foundation, which has long been supportive of Arts!Longview and other arts

projects in the Cultural Arts District, stepped forward to provide the matching funds for Arts!Longview

to bring three sculptures to the city. A previous sculpture, called “Books Make Dreams,” was installed in

July in front of the Longview Public Library.

After receiving the funding, Arts!Longview put out a call for sculptors to submit proposals to the

nonprofit organization. A call was put out locally for requests as well as statewide through the Texas

Commission on the Arts’ website and via the Texas Society of Sculptors. Arts!Longview received about

20 proposals from sculptors across the state and narrowed the selection to three.

“We are grateful to the Texas Commission on the Arts as well as our local supporters at the Rosa May

Griffin Foundation for helping us bring these sculptures to our community,” Cavazos said. “We also are

extremely thankful to our partnership with the City of Longview and with LeTourneau University, both of

whom are avid supporters of the arts and our Cultural District. This would not have been possible

without their support.”

Arts!Longview is a nonprofit organization that manages a 343-acre state-designated Cultural Arts District

in Longview. The Cultural Arts District encompasses downtown Longview and extends to the Belcher

Center at LeTourneau University. In previous years, Arts!Longview has brought public art to the city

through a variety of murals downtown.


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