'Mesteno' dismantled

Red eyes glaring and gray body bucking, OU's mustang sculpture has dominated the southeast corner of Boyd Street and Elm Avenue since 1998.

Yet, the sculpture was dismantled Tuesday to make way for the new wing of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art.

"Mesteno" was designed by Chicano artist Luis Jimenez in 1997. It is based on an appaloosa Jimenez raised, said Eric M. Lee, director of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art.

The eight-foot fiberglass appaloosa mustang was purchased by the museum with money given from the Jerome Westheimer family of Ardmore, Lee said.

Jimenez selected the site for "Mesteno," which was a garden planted in a wagon wheel formation before the sculpture was installed, said Gail Anderson, assistant director of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art.

"('Mesteno') electrified that corner of campus," Lee said.

Now that the mustang has been removed from its location, it will be cleaned and waxed before being displayed inside the museum while construction of the museum's new wing takes place, Anderson said.

Construction is scheduled to begin in mid-November, Lee said.

"Mesteno" will return outside the museum once construction is completed, although the exact location has not yet been determined, Lee said.

OU physical plant employees ran into difficulty removing the sculpture because it was intended to be permanent.

The same crew who installed "Mesteno" in 1998 removed it Tuesday, making the three-hour process somewhat easier, Anderson said.

"Mesteno" evoked enormous controversy when it was erected on campus, Lee said. People had illicit reactions when the sculpture debuted. They either loved or hated the sculpture, Lee said. Yet, he said many people who initially did not like "Mesteno" have come to appreciate it.

The sculpture was mainly misunderstood, Lee said.

People were not used to seeing fiberglass as a medium in fine art, he said.

However, Jimenez works with fiberglass because he wants his art to be seen as part of everyday life, Lee said.

OU's mustang is one of five others.

The other sculptures are part of private collections. Jimenez is currently working on a 32-foot mustang for Denver International Airport.hello there & you too