LIFE
d e e p i n t h e art
The Tallest Lighted Art Piece in Texas by Melissa Hagins
D
riving into downtown Odessa reveals a bright white object rising from the flat landscape of the Permian Basin, incongruous with its surroundings. The lit spire elicits a string of questions such as what is it? why is it here? and where did it come from? The mid-century architecture of the structure reveals its origins as a product of the 1950’s. It was originally built as a sign for the Rock Hill Springs Shopping Center in 1958-59 (the records of its construction have been lost to time). In the 1970’s, the fabric store Cloth World moved into the shopping center and assumed stewardship of the sign. Most Odessans referred to it colloquially as “the Cloth World sign”. When the fabric store closed in the early 1990s, the sign was no longer used and soon fell into disrepair. In 2014, Odessa Arts, an organization that supports and promotes the arts and humanities in Odessa and Ector County, held town hall meetings throughout the community as part of efforts to write a public art master plan. In all the discussions, the Cloth
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AUTHENTIC TEXAS
