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SCENIC TULSA: A TRADITION OF UNUSUAL SCULPTURE
Isaac Newton referred to statues as “stone dolls.” Isaac was not interested in aesthetics. Most of the public statuary in Tulsa is either cast in bronze, or carved out of tree stumps (more on this later), but many of them could characterized as doll-like, albeit on very large scale. I think it can be fairly said that the sponsors and makers of these colossi were not interested in aesthetics, either. Judge for yourself.
THE GOLDEN DRILLER
The Golden Driller was erected in front of the Tulsa Fairgrounds Exposition Hall in 1966.
I'll explain the penguin in an upcoming post.
Note the unusual roof. It is held in place exactly like a suspension bridge; the building has no interior supports. When the Expo Center was built, it was said to have the world's largest uninterrupted interior space—the biggest room on Earth, if you will. I do not know whether that is still true.
THE SILENT MESSENGER
The Silent Messenger belongs to the Shriners of the Akdar Temple. For sheer garish sentimentality it can not be beat. The Shriners like this statue so much they took it with them when they moved to new quarters. I wish knew what they did with their penguin, it was the best one in Tulsa.
THE PRAYING HANDS
The Praying Hands are Oral Robert's contribution to Tulsa's collection of bronze monstrosities. Take the tour of the Oral Roberts University campus here.
THE FOYIL TOTEM POLES
The Foyil totem poles are a bit far afield, outside of Tulsa, so I should save them for another post, but I just love their frankly tacky weirdness.
A week or so ago, the city fathers won a battle with Oklahoma City to make Tulsa the site of a bronze behemoth that will dwarf them all. An Osage sculptor by the name of Shan Gray proposes to erect a statue of a Native American warrior with an eagle perched on his outstretched arm, which he calls “The American,” that will be 17 stories—21 stories tall including the base. That’s taller than the Statue of Liberty, folks. Oh my Lack-of-God.
OH, MY LACK OF GOD! | 
