Montrose’s Beloved Funnel Tunnel Departs Houston For Another City
Last Sunday, the vibrant and eccentric esplanade art installation on Montrose Boulevard known as the Funnel Tunnel was painstakingly dismantled by a group of dedicated volunteers. Artist Patrick Renner’s colorful cornucopia-reminiscent sculpture was commissioned by the Art League Houston and built in 2013. It livened the commutes of an estimated 40,000 drivers for a year-and-a-half in one of the most visible locations in Montrose.
While Houston says goodbye to the 180-foot sculpture of steel and reclaimed wood, New Orleans is preparing itself to host the Funnel Tunnel on a median along Poydras Street. The art project will be resurrected this summer and installed by a group of local artists through a program designed to “bring national and international attention to the visual arts and the artists of post-Katrina New Orleans.”
Well that’s just lame.
If the sculpture was commissioned by the Art League of Houston, then why is it leaving…?
Sad day…I drive by several times a week. It is one of my favorite pieces of art in Montrose.
I loved New Orleans when I lived there. Surely there is enough of an artist community there to create their own commissioned art.