There's a plain esplanade, with grass and trees, on Montrose in front of the Art League of Houston building now. Up until recently, the colorful, whimsical Funnel Tunnel snaked its way through the trees. The public art installation was created by Patrick Renner, a 2015 Houston Press MasterMind Award winner. Made up of hundreds of thin strips of wood painted in a wild variety of colors and attached to a steel frame. Renner's Funnel Tunnel was recently dismantled and a new Renner installation popped up on the plaza of City Hall's front door.
Made of materials similar to those used in Funnel Tunnel, the round sculpture is three feet wide and 12 feet tall and resembles a tower. "It's called Sentinel," Renner tells us. "Originally it was going to be two smaller pieces, one o each side of the front doors. But then that idea was scrapped and I was told I'd have to move away from the doors. So instead of two six foot tall pieces I made on 12 foot tall piece."
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