Parks Outside Art

‘This Land is Your Land’

The musical notes depict the well known song by Woody Guthrie who came to Pampa when 17 and began to play the guitar, sing and write songs.

He left 8 years later, in 1936, but returned several times.

Welder Rusty Neef made a sculptured tribute in 1992 that required over 450 hours. It is located in East Coronado Park just off Highway 70 near the center of town and stands 10 feet tall and 142 feet long. It is lit at night with red, white, and blue lights.

Art History Wall

In 1986 the Pampa Area Foundation for Outdoor Art was chartered to provide outdoor art in the area.

The first project was to coordinate the ‘Art History Wall’ southeast of M.K. Brown Auditorium. Gerald Sanders, with the help of Reece Field and James Hinkley, formed out of crushed marble and concrete the west two panels in the shape of the lone star flag. Area cattle brands surround the flag.

The base relief sculptures done by area artists to depict Panhandle heritage include:

• Gerald Sanders, Indian, eagle, buffalo hunter
• Jerry Richards, Plains Indian
• Fauncine Mack, Coronado's exploration
• Darlene Holmes, longhorn cattle
• Evelyn Epps, covered wagons
• James Hinkley, quilting & oil industry
• Reece Field, Pampa Army Air Field pilot, airplanes
• Tim Gikas, farm site
• Karen Bonnell, chemical industry, Celanese
• Lloyd Waters, windmill
• Lois Minnick, farm scene, soap making, plowing
• Gerald Dean Reagan, cowboys
• Jim Hollinswood, cowboy gear
• Darlene Birkes, farming from reaper to combine and large plow.

 Inside panels of ‘Clay Tile’ were done in elementary and junior high workshops supervised by James Hinkley, and the Pampa High School art classes of Dorothy Farrington and Amy Brindle.

‘Mosaic Walls’ were done by Pampa Art Club members including Dona Cornutt, Pat Kindle, Pat Youngblood, Alice Raymond, Francis Hall, Virginia Archer. Completed in 1995, the walls illustrate the agricultural and industrial areas surrounding Pampa.

Perry LeFors Statue

The bronze statue of buffalo hunter-rancher Perry LeFors, 1841-1909, by Rich Muno was commissioned by son Emmett in 1986.

LeFors is "riding" over the sea of grass, part of the Diamond F Ranch of which he was a foreman in the 1880s.

Later this became a part of the White Deer Lands Co. The artist spent a year on the bronze, cast in 75 pieces.

The statue is 8 feet high and stands on a 4 foot tall base located at the corner of Hobart Street and Somerville Street in East Coronado Park.

Perry and Emma LeFors Biography

(reprinted with permission from Gray County Heritage ©1985)

Lizard Steel Sculpture

The "Loch Ness” Lizard in Buckler Park between Hobart Street and Somerville Street.

Constructed in 1991-92 by Warren Smith and his metal trades’ classes at Pampa High School, the lizard is made of recycled materials.

The round "scales" are charge tube discards from Titan Specialties that were welded one by one to a frame of steel. It stands 5 feet tall, 6 feet wide and 14 feet long.

The rocks surrounding the lizard are from the Alibates Flint Quarries near Lake Merideth where the Indians made arrow heads for hunting and barter.

No longer available from the site, these rocks were moved from another park.

Cuyler Park Onion

"Onion" sculpture by artist Al Smith located in Cuyler Park at the intersection of Cuyler Street and Browning Street. Built by Cabot welding shops and sponsored by Pampa Beautification Foundation in 1977, stands 5 feet tall.