Almost 100 million years after dinosaurs roamed the area
that is now Austin, one of them has returned -- this time in the form of a
sculpture produced by John Maisano, artist for the Texas Natural Science Center. The sculpture, based on the
Ornithomimus dinosaur, was commissioned by the Hartman
Foundation, and is the centerpiece of this lush, tropical garden. It
stands eight feet tall and thirteen feet long, and was cast in bronze with
an interior frame of stainless steel by Clint Howard and artisans of Deep
in the Heart Art Foundry Inc. To assure authenticity, paleontologists from
The University of Texas at Austin's Texas Natural Science Center's Vertebrate Paleontology Lab, including Graduate Assistant Ron Tykoski,
were consulted regularly. The 1,200-pound sculpture stands
center stage in the garden, on an island surrounded by water and tropical
plants
