Master Sculptor Ayokunle Odeleye will begin installation of his “Chi Wara Sundial Lantern,” a stainless steel and bronze public art installation for the Cascade/Benjamin E Mays plaza on Friday, July 20th.
Odeleye was selected by the Office of Cultural Affairs Public Art Panel to create artwork to beautify the newly renovated intersection in Southwest Atlanta. Odeleye’s design, a “Chi Wara Sundial,” gains its concept from the Chi Wara headdress, used in ceremonial celebrations in Mali, West Africa. Used to symbolize the passing of knowledge from the elders of the community to the young, Odeleye’s sculpture incorporates both sundial and lantern elements, symbolically illuminating the path and pointing the direction toward community enlightenment and growth.
In addition to the physical sculpture, 12 granite pavers embedded in the concrete and brick plaza will ring Odeleye’s design. The plates will be engraved with names of important members of the Cascade Heights community, celebrating local residents who’ve made political, spiritual and cultural contributions to the area.
Source: Cascade Patch