Are you wondering where in the world is Woody the Turtle? Fear not! As of mid-March, Woody is "March”-ing to completion. He truly is a work of art - as unique as Woodland Park and Woodland Heights.
Local artist Dylan Conner is hard at work bringing this piece to life. Ironically, much like the re-eared slider itself, progress is slow and steady.
Dylan shared that construction of Woody is a very unique process, where the pipe sections have to be manipulated inch by inch (literally). In fact, the bending of just one of the 20 leg pipes can take up to 5 hours to form and fit! Fabrication is expected to take another 3-4 weeks, with powder-coating and City of Houston playground certification to follow.
Dylan further explained that “I should have the last two front legs pipes formed and fit and our 5/16” thick webbed turtle foot plates cut out and tacked on this week. When the front foot plates are tacked on we will really start to get a sense of how the finished legs will look. I couldn’t be happier with the work. It is such a privilege to have the support of FWP and our neighborhood in bringing this unique interactive sculpture to life and I am forever grateful for that.”
The FWP Board is planning the official dedication at the annual “Happy Trails and Hot Dogs” event - renamed for this year to “Happy Turtle, Trails, and Hot Dogs!” on May 13th from 11am-1pm. Save the Date and watch our website for more information.
And thank you again to all of our generous donors who made this possible! We hope to see you out celebrating with us on May 13th as well.
