Pegasus by LHHS graduate Daniel Scoggins

We reported last year that the Lake Highlands Public Improvement District and Richardson ISD agreed on a landscaping plan that includes a public art installation — a large-scale steel sculpture of iconic Pegasus — for a patch of district-owned green space. In August 2021, we even published a quite-specific rendering of would-be Pegasus situated at a recognizable intersection, Lake Highlands at White Rock Trail near the high school. News of the coming Pegasus was shared around Facebook. But seven months after the installation was green lighted …

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I am now going to admit my own temporary ignorance. I knew the sculpture was completed and that it looked cool, and I knew that the artist was a talented graduate of Lake Highlands High (thanks to a FB post by Councilman Adam McGough that we referred to here, but which I can no longer locate).

What I assumed, wrongly, was that — following the approval of the landscaping plan — the sculpture had been installed.

But it has not been installed.

I figured that out when I set up an interview with the artist, who has this whole other interesting story, as told in our April issue. Before we met, I drove by the spot to see Pegasus up close, and no Pegasus.

Since the approval, according to Scoggins, he’s had to store Pegasus — a magnificent assemblage of repurposed scrap metal and new steel for which he received a $20,000 grant from a foundation called Dash — at his friend’s commercial-sized garage in East Dallas.

But a few weeks ago, said acquaintance, whose lease was up, moved his shop, and Pegasus effectively was evicted.

Scoggins had to figure out what to do with her. No doubt, putting the close-to 10-foot sculpture in his L Streets yard would draw a code compliance officer.

The artist doesn’t seem the least upset by all of this. He is not complaining, merely responding to my queries.

Me: So you gave them a $20,000 gift which they accepted but now they don’t really have a place to put it  … and now your buddy says he can no longer store hundreds of pounds of winged horse, so you had to find it a new home?

Scoggins: “I loaded it up on a trailer and moved it to a new storage location.” He goes on to say that he met up with three members of the PID last week so they could see it in person.

“Everyone is loving it,” he says, and they discussed potential next steps and “got the ball rolling.”

He thinks that though there is no official timeline, the landscaping that includes the installation should be completed within the year and probably sooner.

I emailed and called the PID and copied McGough’s office when writing the aforementioned profile on Scoggins. McGough’s office has referred us to the PID, Dand while I never heard back from them, Scoggins says he heard from Vicky Taylor director at the PID, which is what matters most.

Here are 5 steps to installing a large outdoor sculpture — I know there’s a lot going on but isn’t it time to give Pegasus a home?

Note: this article was updated 4/7/22 to reflect that McGough’s office has responded.