Cowboys and cowboy culture have long defined this city\u2019s identity, but this summer, Sundance Square Plaza is making room for another kind of passion \u2014 one measured in stoppage time and settled on grass.<\/p>\n
More than two dozen giant, hand-painted soccer balls now fill the plaza, each one a splash of color and culture as Fort Worth braces for the global fanfare of the FIFA World Cup. The installation, which debuted May 23, marks the start of what organizers are calling the \u201cSummer of Soccer at Sundance Square,\u201d a months-long celebration designed to turn the 37-block downtown district into the city\u2019s premier gathering spot for the international game.<\/p>\n
Local Fort Worth artist Erik Gomez spent weeks crafting his contribution to the installation, drawing inspiration from a sport he has known all his life.<\/p>\n
“The sport as I know it is futbol,” said Erik Gomez, a Fort Worth artist.<\/p>\n
Gomez\u2019s soccer ball pays tribute to the game\u2019s history and his own heritage. Each panel of his design represents one of soccer\u2019s world champions, while the eagle \u2014 a symbol from the Mexican flag \u2014 takes center stage.<\/p>\n
“Each one of them is representing one of the world champions. The eagle is prominently featured on the Mexican flag and that\u2019s my heritage,” Gomez said.<\/p>\n
The work is stopping people in their tracks. Visitors posed for photos beside the sculptures Sunday and voiced their enthusiasm in the international language of the sport itself.<\/p>\n
“It is the best. Futbol is the best,” plaza visitor Felip Rios said.<\/p>\n
For Rios and others, the excitement stretches far beyond Fort Worth\u2019s city limits. Fans from across the region and globe are already converging on North Texas.<\/p>\n
Watch Parties<\/p>\n
According to a Sundance Square press release, all 104 international soccer matches will be broadcast live on giant screens in the plaza from June 11 through July 19, with daily watch parties featuring food trucks, bars, DJs and family-friendly programming.<\/p>\n
The Art Installation<\/p>\n
According to the press release, Sundance Square Art Director Sarah Ayala described the installation\u2019s intent: \u201cEach artist brings their own point of view to a form everyone immediately recognizes. Together, the installation becomes a celebration of soccer, but also of the artists and creative voices that make Fort Worth such a dynamic cultural city.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gomez said the balls will be clustered in the plaza through June 7 before being spread out across Sundance Square for the rest of the summer.<\/p>\n
“Kind of as little Easter eggs for everybody to find,” Gomez said.<\/p>\n
Gomez says that energy \u2014 the kind that only comes from seeing the work in person \u2014 is exactly what he hoped for when he picked up his brush.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cowboys and cowboy culture have long defined this city\u2019s identity, but this summer, Sundance Square Plaza is making…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[113952,116,118,117,113951,28371],"class_list":["post-317610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-erik-gomez","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news","tag-soccer-balls","tag-sundance-square"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}