A helicopter flew the skies above Hays County last Thursday as it airlifted the massive “Morning Glories” sculpture in pieces from Texas State University’s Aquarena Center to a new home at a private ranch in Wimberley.
“Morning Glories,” a half-century-old metal and fiberglass work by the late Wimberley artist Buck Winn, was removed in preparation for a $4 million restoration project at Spring Lake.
Texas River Systems Institute Director Andrew Sansom said he believes the Spring Lake endeavor is the “most significant environmental restoration project in the nation right now.”
The lake, at the head of the San Marcos River, is the second-largest artesian springs in the Western United States. It is home to eight species that are federally listed as endangered or threatened and is one of the oldest continually inhabited sites on the continent.
“In my mind,” Sansom said, “it is truly, globally significant. It’s the only one of its kind.”
Winn, an internationally renowned artist who died in 1979, created “Morning Glories” in 1963. For years the sculpture offered shade for tourists waiting in line for park attractions at the now-defunct Aquarena Springs Resort.
The sculpture was returned to the Winn family ranch in Wimberley and to Buck Winn’s grandson, Andrew Winn.
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