Utility poles outside Dix Park will be transformed into giant sunflowers

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Two utility line poles near Dorothea Dix Park will soon pay homage to a popular annual event at the park.

The power poles will become 73-foot-tall sunflowers in a large-scale public art exhibit spearheaded by the Dix Park Conservancy, Duke Energy and Raleigh artist Thomas Sayre.

The poles will be located along Lake Wheeler Road near the park's new entrance. Each flower power pole will have 48 steel petals.

"This inspired project exemplifies both the creativity we aspire to foster at Dix Park and the spirit of community and collaboration that makes the park possible," said Janet Cowell, CEO of Dix Park Conservancy, which is recruiting private donors to fund the endeavor.

Work is underway to build the petals and other elements of the flowers. Officials said they expect the flowers to be installed in the fall of 2024.

Sayre has a lot of experience creating public art and sculptures. He is maybe most known for the shimmer wall on the Raleigh Convention Center or the three Gyre rings at the North Carolina Museum of Art.

"The challenge of making something magical from the kind of infrastructure we all see and take for granted every day instantly intrigued me," Sayre said in a news release.