ODESSA, Texas — Odessa is on display in a new documentary premiering on Basin PBS April 28th. The film centers on the spire project, serving as a beacon of hope to Odessa.
The project itself took five years to complete. Randy Ham, Matt Rist and Clyde Aly have spent the last year documenting the rebirth of the iconic landmark.
“We all learned so much during this process,” Rist said. “One of the most exciting parts of the project was all three of us getting to travel to Philadelphia where the artist’s studio is. We were able to document the piece from the artist’s perspective through his workshop and his inner-genius at work.”
The piece was so large that a portion of it had to be constructed outside of the brownstone studio, suspended on the side of the building.
“I think getting to see that in person before it was even loaded up and sent to Odessa was a really neat part of the project,” Rist said.
The spire marks a milestone in Ham’s tenure as Executive Director of the Odessa Arts Council. When he took the helm in 2014, he immediately began picking the brains of people in the community on projects they’d like to see in their master plan. The spire, widely known as the “old Cloth World sign,” kept coming up.
“I like to say I was so green on the job, so naive that I thought, ‘why not!,'” Ham said.
Unveiled in late 2019, the spire is now the tallest lighted public art installation in Texas.
“We took a piece of Odessa history, something people were invested in and was crumbling,” Ham said. “We took it, reframed it as a new piece to last for generations to come.”
The trio hopes the film will frame Odessa in a new light and inspire them to get involved in the arts.
“People need to understand that, especially in these times, art is important. It’s not a luxury, it’s a necessity,” Ham said. “It’s the thing that provides us comfort, it encourages us to get up and move forward and it’s the thing that can inspire us to do great things.”
Rist says the project is coming at the perfect time.
“The artist wanted to make the structure even taller than it originally was because he wanted it to serve as a beacon – a beacon of light, a beacon of hope,” Rist said. “I think right now, more than ever, we need something to look to and feel inspired and hopeful.”
INSPIRE will air on Basin PBS, Tuesday April 28th at 7 p.m.
To see the full interview with the team who made the documentary happen, visit the NewsWest 9 YouTube channel.
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