A party atmosphere underscored the dedication ceremony, ribbon-cutting and related festivities on Wednesday as a crowd celebrated the opening of Oklahoma City’s newest large development – OAK – on the corner of Northwest Expressway and Pennsylvania. After watching the extensive construction on that corner for so long, I enjoyed getting a feel for all that was happening in this mixed-use development from Veritas Development, which includes luxury residences, retailers, dining and office space. The highlight of the ceremony was the dedication of three large, Oklahoma-landscape-inspired sculptures by Brad Oldham and Christy Coltrin – “Cloud Trees,” “Cloud Puncher” and “Mighty Live OAK” to the Dobson family for their contributions to Oklahoma and to art.
“This will immediately become a major addition to our city’s public art portfolio, and we’re really, really excited for everybody to see it,” Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt said. Two of the sculptures sit in the courtyard of OAK – Heartwood Park between the hotel, the residences and the retail spaces; the other out front. “Cloud Puncher” features a cowboy sitting on the ground to rope a metallic cloud two stories up – on the Lively Hotel’s restaurant and bar terrace of that name.
Wednesday’s event also celebrated the opening of the Lively Hotel, a part of Hilton’s Tapestry Collection, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the terrace of the now-open Cloud Puncher restaurant. Opening in a few .