Earlier this month, I heard from a neighbor that Mac Whitney had passed away. Why, you may ask, is that relevant? It is because his art is a piece you may walk by when you visit Stude Park.
The 50,000-pound, 50-foot-tall abstract monument titled 'Houston' stands tall on a hill above White Oak Bayou, visible from I-10 toward downtown. The piece was completed and installed in 1982 and was one of the first public artworks commissioned by the City of Houston.
Mac Whitney was born in 1936 in Manhattan, Kansas. He grew up on his parents' farm and learned to weld in High School. He went on to attend the College of Emporia and then studied at the Kansas State Teachers College and Kansas University. He received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Kansas in 1968.
In 1969, he moved to Texas and became associated with a Dallas group called the Oak Cliff Four. Around 1983 Whitney bought a 22.5-acre property on forested Red Oak Creek in Ovilla, outside of Midlothian, south of Dallas, on the northeast Texas prairie. He built his studio on this property and continued to produce artwork that has been called
"dynamic sculptures and extensive career have become a recognized part of Texas' rich cultural environment. His abstracted raw steel sculptures portray the primary forces of tension and resolution while instilling a sense of monumentality. The freestanding sculptures are both prodigious and lyrical- heavy metal seems effortlessly bent, unfolding toward the sky." – Gallery Sonja Roesch
Mac Whitney's work has been shown nationally and internationally and is part of many public collections, including the Dallas Museum of Art, the Fort Worth Museum of Art, the Art Museum of South Texas, the University of North Texas Museum, and the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Texas. It is worth recognizing, and you can see one of his many pieces when you take your morning or evening walk through Stude Park.
Additional information on Mac Whitney and his art is found at the following links.
Glass Tire - https://glasstire.com/2025/03/13/mac-whitney-1936-2025/
Glass Tire - https://glasstire.com/2025/01/08/mac-whitney-man-of-steel/
Houston Chronicle - https://www.houstonchronicle.com/entertainment/article/Paintings-expand-meaning-of-sculptures-by-Whitney-4294878.php#photo-4226173
Gallery Sonja Roesch - https://www.gallerysonjaroesch.com/mac-whitney
Kirk Hopper Fine Art - https://www.kirkhopperfineart.com/whitney.html
Mac Whitney Art - https://macwhitneyart.com/
To find a list of Art in Parks located throughout Houston visit
Houston Parks & Recreation Department Art in Parks - https://www.houstontx.gov/parks/artinparks/pdfs/Houston.pdf