Oklahoma City Installs Public Art To Beautify New Lake Trails

A few new art installations are going in along Oklahoma City lake trails. The projects are part of the 1% for Art initiative to beautify areas with new construction. 

The city has made major investments to improve the atmosphere around public lakes. Now, there is even more in store for users to enjoy.

On Wednesday, September 4 a 1959 Buick LeSabre was on its way to becoming the “Booya Car”.

“You look at cars from the 50s and 60s, and they look like they could be spaceships,” said artist Gabriel Friedman, “so the idea is that I’m making it feel more like a spaceship.”

Friedman was not alone in his futuristic, yet nostalgic thinking. A newly-installed sculpture across the lake is called “Bee-52”. The “Glacial Erratics” exhibit will land on the West River Trail near Crystal Lake this week, too.

For Friedman, the Buick emblazoned with “Booya” is a proclamation to visitors hard at work on their health.

“It’s a word you say to yourself when you’ve accomplished something small,” Friedman said. “It makes you feel big.”

The artist is a cyclist himself, so he understands the feeling. But he has an even more personal connection to his own piece. The car first belonged to his great-grandmother, then it was the first car he ever rode in, and it eventually became his own first car.

Friedman remembered, “When I was about 5 years old, I approached my grandparents and said I would like the Batmobile when I turn 16. That’s what we called it, me and my brothers.”

The car is now a shell of its old self, but Friedman hopes his Batmobile sends screams of “Booya!” echoing across the lake as people pedal past.

“There just has been very few places where it feels safe, it’s pleasant,” admitted Friedman, “and this trail, I think, will be the nicest place to cycle or walk or run in the city.”

The grand opening for the 13-mile Lake Draper Trail will happen in late fall.

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