About 10 years ago, when Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) was planning new art at the South Irving Transit Station, a Dallas sculptor, David B. Hickman, answered the call and explained how his research of South Irving’s history led him to propose a marker tree as used by Native Americans to identify important locations such as a trail or a river crossing.

The DART board liked David Hickman’s idea and commissioned him to create such a marker tree in 1999.  The artwork is in keeping with the historic trails between the forks of the Trinity River, the theme of the station. Hickman’s Marker Tree stands beside the east ramp of the train platform and will soon celebrate its 10th anniversary; a well kept secret in plain sight. 

David describes the work as a stylized marker tree. “Flowing, multiple, stainless steal rods with space between are meant to convey a drifting, smoky, skeletal effect for the viewer. The stainless steel rods which form the sculpture were free-hand shaped using hydraulic pressure adapted to a rolling cart to allow me to start at one end of a 20 foot length of material and gradually curve it as I moved along its length.  All of the elements are TIG welded together.”

Indians wanting to identify a significant place that could be spotted from a distance would bend a young sapling over so that it was nearly horizontal to the ground and anchor it to the ground with rawhide strips.  As the years went by, the tree would grow bent in that position and serve as a trail marker.  Only a few marker trees exist today.  However, one can see the real McCoy, made from a pecan sapling, in the park in front of the Texas National Guard Armory at 1633 California Crossing in Las Colinas.  It has been a signpost pointing the way west to the ElmForkRiver crossing and the California Trail for years.  

There is a plaque that describes the artwork at the foot of the handrail, going up to the TRE platform but is easily overlooked as one rushes to purchase a ticket and climb aboard the train.  David Hickman’s Marker Tree lies on the trail we take from our homes in Irving to our workplaces in Dallas or Ft.Worth and it also lies on the Historic Birdville Trail.

David and his wife Linda live in the Dallas area in a home filled with creative wonderments and scaled down prototypes of his large sculptural creations.  His workshop warehouse is a 60 second commute through a side yard sculpture garden with large, wind-activated, kinetic sculptures among other interesting pieces and works in progress.  Hickman works in carved wood and stone, hammered metals, and slumped glass creating his own original designs or he will bring to life the designs of other artists or architects. 

The 77^th Texas Legislature selected Hickman as the State Three Dimensional Artist of the Year for 2005. His works are included in numerous public and private collections and he has participated in juried exhibitions nation wide.  The Marker Tree isn’t David’s only art in Irving.  His Entry Marker, a kinetic sculpture of two wings, marks the wetlands area entryway about a block or so east.  This second sculpture for Irving was created in 2002 and is on the Historic Birdville Trail, at 900 W. Pioneer Drive.

David B. Hickman’s website is: http://www.davidbhickman.com/  where you can enjoy much more of this famous Texas sculptor’s work.

Thanks to Jim Dunkley, Irving Trails Historian, Irving Texas High Spirited Citizen and Boy Scouts of America Silver Beaver honoree for pointing out these Irving, Texas treasures that are hiding in plain sight.