Cameron Park charmed sculptor Patrick Dougherty on his first visit Thursday, though he thinks he can dress it up a bit with a huge, twisted mass of saplings.

The North Carolina artist was here at the invitation of the Waco Cultural Arts Fest to scope out a site for one of his trademark creations of local vegetation.

After a tour of the park with Arts Fest and city officials, he knew what materials he wanted to use — willow, ligustrum brush and maybe a bit of bamboo. And he found his ideal place: the southern end of Pecan Bottoms, next to the river and across Cameron Park Drive from the zoo.

Artist Patrick Dougherty speaks with Mayor Virginia DuPuy and parks director Rusty Black in Pecan Bottoms, where he plans to build a giant art installation made of saplings.
Jerry Larson/Tribune-Herald

“It’s a nice site,” he said. “ It has a bucolic feeling next to the river. . . . You have so many opportunities here with the river and the way the edge of the river has been developed.”

Dougherty will build the stick sculpture in October in celebration of Cameron Park’s 100th birthday.

The Arts Fest organization hired Dougherty using a $25,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant. City parks employees, local college arts classes and other volunteers will help in the three-week construction.

Dougherty said he doesn’t know what he’ll create yet, but given the scale of the river and the “majestic” elm, cottonwood and pecan trees nearby, it won’t be “dinky-looking.”

It will likely be a three-dimensional structure that people can climb into, he said.

Other Dougherty projects have included giant wine bottles, whimsical houses, people and, in Albuquerque, N.M., giant kachina dolls.

“I start out by figuring out what I can do here that I can’t do anywhere else,” he said. “I’m prone not to repeat myself.”

City parks workers and volunteers will help Dougherty harvest willow saplings from the Lake Waco Wetlands and wax-leaf ligustrum from Cameron Park’s forest area.

Ligustrum, a non-native yard shrub, has taken over parts of the park, and clearing it will be a public service, parks officials said.

Dougherty consulted Thursday with representatives of the parks department, Cameron Park centennial committee and Arts Fest officials about the details of the site, including lighting and security. They also took him on a tour of the park, including the cliff areas.

“I love it,” Dougherty said. “I’m seeing it more used by the public than most city parks I’ve been to. This place was crowded this morning with Frisbee golfers.”

Dougherty said he was impressed with the amount of public art that Waco already has, particularly along the Brazos River.

He said his stick sculpture will be different because it is made of natural materials and will stay up only two years. The piece will be part of the natural landscape and will encourage people to enjoy the outdoors, he said.

“As humans, we need that time with nature, just to stand or sit in the car and enjoy the river,” he said.

jbsmith@wacotrib.com

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