\n\t\t\t\t\t\tOklahoma City unveiled a 35-foot-tall cowboy boot sculpture outside the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, adding a new attraction to Route 66 as part of the highway’s centennial celebration. The oversized sculpture celebrates two Oklahoma icons \u2014 cowboy culture and America\u2019s most famous highway. Artist Cameron Eagle, who designed the piece, said the inspiration came from a lyric in the song \u201cKicks 66.\u201d “Oklahoma City\u2019s mighty pretty. That\u2019s it, doesn\u2019t describe any other town,” Eagle said. Eagle explained that every detail of the sculpture was designed to reflect Oklahoma\u2019s culture and identity. “The boot just kept really, really speaking to me as far as, you know, one of the things that they wanted, they wanted it to represent Oklahoma and Oklahoma culture. So the boot is for everybody,” Eagle said. >> Download the KOCO 5 app | Subscribe to KOCO 5\u2019s YouTube channel | Sign up for KOCO 5\u2019s Morning NewsletterHe added that the design includes a cactus, which he said symbolizes strength and resilience. “The cactus, a lot of people have said, \u2018We don’t have a cactus here in Oklahoma.\u2019 I said, \u2018I beg to differ.\u2019 That\u2019s an indigenous plant. It\u2019s in all 77 counties, and I put that in there as a balance to also symbolize strength and resilience,” Eagle said. WATCH: Giant push pin marks Route 66 midpoint in Wellston, OklahomaOklahoma City Mayor David Holt said the goal was to create a landmark that connects the city to Route 66 and encourages visitors to stop and take photos. “I wanted the words of that song in there, and I wanted it to be something people would stop by, check out and take pictures with,” Holt said. The ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the official unveiling of the sculpture, and as the sun set, the boot was lit for the first time, shining brightly as part of the celebration. The cowboy boot joins a growing list of attractions across Oklahoma celebrating Route 66, including the Wellston Pin, a giant pushpin art installation marking the midpoint of Route 66 within the state. Communities are also restoring historic landmarks and creating new destinations to attract visitors from around the world. Oklahoma boasts more than 400 drivable miles of Route 66 \u2014 more than any other state \u2014 and officials hope new attractions like the cowboy boot will keep travelers exploring the highway for generations to come. This giant boot serves as a reminder that the Mother Road isn\u2019t just preserving history \u2014 it\u2019s still making it.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tOKLAHOMA CITY \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Oklahoma City unveiled a 35-foot-tall cowboy boot sculpture outside the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, adding a new attraction to Route 66 as part of the highway’s centennial celebration. <\/p>\n
The oversized sculpture celebrates two Oklahoma icons \u2014 cowboy culture and America\u2019s most famous highway. Artist Cameron Eagle, who designed the piece, said the inspiration came from a lyric in the song \u201cKicks 66.\u201d <\/p>\n
“Oklahoma City\u2019s mighty pretty. That\u2019s it, doesn\u2019t describe any other town,” Eagle said. <\/p>\n
Eagle explained that every detail of the sculpture was designed to reflect Oklahoma\u2019s culture and identity. <\/p>\n
“The boot just kept really, really speaking to me as far as, you know, one of the things that they wanted, they wanted it to represent Oklahoma and Oklahoma culture. So the boot is for everybody,” Eagle said. <\/p>\n
>> Download the KOCO 5 app<\/a> | Subscribe to KOCO 5\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a> | Sign up for KOCO 5\u2019s Morning Newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n He added that the design includes a cactus, which he said symbolizes strength and resilience. <\/p>\n “The cactus, a lot of people have said, \u2018We don’t have a cactus here in Oklahoma.\u2019 I said, \u2018I beg to differ.\u2019 That\u2019s an indigenous plant. It\u2019s in all 77 counties, and I put that in there as a balance to also symbolize strength and resilience,” Eagle said. <\/p>\n WATCH: Giant push pin marks Route 66 midpoint in Wellston, Oklahoma<\/p>\n Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt said the goal was to create a landmark that connects the city to Route 66 and encourages visitors to stop and take photos. <\/p>\n “I wanted the words of that song in there, and I wanted it to be something people would stop by, check out and take pictures with,” Holt said. <\/p>\n The ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the official unveiling of the sculpture, and as the sun set, the boot was lit for the first time, shining brightly as part of the celebration. <\/p>\n The cowboy boot joins a growing list of attractions across Oklahoma celebrating Route 66, including the Wellston Pin, a giant pushpin art installation marking the midpoint of Route 66 within the state. Communities are also restoring historic landmarks and creating new destinations to attract visitors from around the world. <\/p>\n Oklahoma boasts more than 400 drivable miles of Route 66 \u2014 more than any other state \u2014 and officials hope new attractions like the cowboy boot will keep travelers exploring the highway for generations to come. <\/p>\n This giant boot serves as a reminder that the Mother Road isn\u2019t just preserving history \u2014 it\u2019s still making it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oklahoma City unveiled a 35-foot-tall cowboy boot sculpture outside the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, adding a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520683,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,33260,221953,221958,221956,308,147866,93,221954,27066,61,60,124985,221955,51282,6043,49057,221952,78324,221957],"class_list":["post-520682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-boot","tag-cactus","tag-centennial-celebration","tag-cowboy-culture","tag-design","tag-eagle","tag-entertainment","tag-giant-cowboy-boot-sculpture","tag-highway","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-koco","tag-midpoint","tag-new-attraction","tag-oklahoma","tag-oklahoma-city","tag-oversized-sculpture","tag-route","tag-wellston"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}