Phoenix rises again in new location

The bamboo sculpture of a phoenix, created in late 2013 by College of Agriculture and Life Sciences landscape design students, has moved across campus.

Initially installed in front of NC State University’s Gregg Museum of Art and Design (formerly the university Chancellor’s Residence), the colorful bamboo creation needed to find a new home to make room for new construction at the museum.

Now-retired Horticultural Science Professor Will Hooker was on hand to oversee the big bird’s re-location to a woody grove just south of Bragaw Hall, near the corner of Dan Allen and Sullivan drives.

In fact, the phoenix now soars along the west to east greenway through campus.

“I wanted it positioned on the greenway that is called the Art-to-Heart Greenway Trail,” said Hooker. The Art-to-Heart Greenway, which extends from the N.C. Museum of Art to the heart of downtown Raleigh, runs through the NC State campus and between the phoenix and the Gregg Museum.

University grounds management team members, including planner Erin Ives and arborist Mark Davin, carefully implemented the suspension of the phoenix in a tree.

And while the phoenix no longer has the looping tail extension that formed an archway over the walk at the Gregg, it now seems less tethered and free as it sways within the tree — giving passersby an unexpected bit of beauty to behold. – Terri Leith