Books of a Feather

Houston, Texas, United States

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Animals and creatures

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

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Books of a Feather is a 2017 public artwork outside the Alice McKean Young Neighborhood Library in Houston: three mosaic-covered bird sculptures, 12 to 15 feet tall, by Houston artist Dixie Friend Gay, with tiles stamped with book titles.

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Books of a Feather

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Site-level location · 29.6997° N, 95.3524° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Three oversized mosaic birds greet visitors to a Houston neighbourhood library, and the book titles stamped into their tiles are all about birds. Books of a Feather, by Houston artist Dixie Friend Gay, was commissioned for the Houston Public Library's Alice McKean Young Neighborhood Library and dedicated by the City of Houston on 26 July 2017 as part of the City Art Collection.

The City of Houston describes three large birds, 12 to 15 feet tall, made of steel and concrete. The artist's website gives the dimensions as 15 by 6 by 10 feet and describes the material as stainless steel and concrete; both say the birds are covered in hand-placed, multi-coloured glass and ceramic mosaic tiles. The city said hand-made tiles are stamped with book titles that include words associated with birds and flight; Houstonia, in a 2021 article, names One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Pelican Brief and The Trumpet of the Swan, and says each bird has a different crest.

The artist said the work 'draws parallels between the physical flight of birds and the flights of imagination found in books'. The city's announcement says a lighting system illuminates the birds after sunset, that the artist worked with library staff to place titles on the birds' wings, and that the project followed more than a year of collaboration with the library, the building architects and contractor, and local fabricators. It was paid for by the Civic Art Program, which sets aside 1.75 per cent of qualifying capital project money for art.

The city places the library across from the historic Palm Center, and the mayor said residents could see the work while riding Metro. The artist's website says it was recognised in Americans for the Arts' 2018 Public Art Network Year in Review.

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WHAT TO EXPECT

Three mosaic bird sculptures outside the Alice McKean Young Neighborhood Library, a public library. The City of Houston said in 2017 that a lighting system illuminates them after dark. The birds are outdoors at the library; check the Houston Public Library for the branch's opening hours.

ACCESS

Outside the Alice McKean Young Neighborhood Library in Houston, which the city described in 2017 as across from the historic Palm Center. The city said in 2017 that the birds can be seen from the road and from Metro.

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Sam Houston Monument Hermann Park

Houston, Texas

The Sam Houston Monument is a bronze equestrian statue of General Sam Houston on his horse Saracen, by sculptor Enrico Cerrachio, set on a granite arch by Frank Teich at the Montrose and Main entrance to Hermann Park, Houston. It was unveiled in 1925.

Public art

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4.4 km away

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