SPREADING THEIR WINGS: Romy Owens & Adam Lanman Collaboration Soars to Success by Kerry M. Azzarello
Presentation Elevations
Under Her Wing Was The Universe is full of stories. The short story being it is a site-specific public art project in Enid, Oklahoma. However, it is the other stories residing underneath the framework of the Enid Wing (as it has come to be known) that prove more enthralling. There is the story surrounding its ideation and evolution; the story of its funding, a story composed of hundreds of stories; the story of its opposition; and the story of the two artists responsible for this one-of-a-kind creation. In The Beginning
It started with a Facebook message in March. “Are you free for coffee?” Oklahoma City-based artist and curator romy Owens had been contemplating her
20 f e a t u re
next work, to be located in her home town of Enid, and turned to artist and architect adam Lanman, also of Oklahoma City, for a creative conversation.
living thing has to one another. The initial meeting provided a nebulous yet powerful spark that fueled a fast-paced, ambitious creative endeavor.
The pair had previously worked together, Owens serving as curator-in-residence for the Downtown OKC, Inc. Artist Invitational and Lanman as one of the selected artists who went on to design and build Skyline:Timeline (2016), a 6-tower installation serving as an abstracted, color coded history of the past sixty years in Oklahoma City.
The result is a strategic infill project that aims to be of service on multiple fronts. Rising from the surrounding prairie grass landscape the tall, sinuous structure with featherlike exterior cladding leads visitors down a path equally appropriate for social gatherings and quiet contemplations. The artwork is designated to fulfill a key component of the city’s strategic initiative and aims to enhance downtown space and promote tourism.
This time around, the discussion focused on notions of motherly protection, the comfort of a wing, the expansiveness of the universe, and the connection every
Creative Collaboration
The Enid Wing has been an artist-led