Firebird (Niki de Saint Phalle)

Charlotte, North Carolina, United States

Public art

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

The Firebird (Le Grand Oiseau de Feu sur l’Arche) is a 1991 mirror-mosaic sculpture by Niki de Saint Phalle, which was installed on the plaza of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, in October 2009.

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Firebird (Niki de Saint Phalle)

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Site-level location · 35.2273° N, 80.8412° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

A bird covered from head to tail in mirrored and coloured glass stood outside the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, as of the museum’s own description, and Charlotte gave it a nickname to match. Visit Charlotte said locals sometimes call it the “Disco Chicken”.

The sculpture is Le Grand Oiseau de Feu sur l’Arche, known as The Firebird, completed in 1991 by the French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930 to 2002). The museum gives its height as 17 feet 5 inches, its weight as 1,433 pounds and its surface as a 7,500-piece mirror mosaic.

Museum patron Andreas Bechtler purchased it in 2006, according to the museum’s Google Arts & Culture account. A 2009 press release said he wanted a counterpoint to the geometric lines of the museum building, designed by the Swiss architect Mario Botta. The bird went onto the plaza in October 2009 and was unveiled on 3 November, two months before the museum opened on 2 January 2010.

It was placed on the museum plaza facing South Tryon Street, and Visit Charlotte placed The Green, a pocket park, across the street. In October 2024 Praise Charlotte, citing The Charlotte Observer, described it as a popular selfie spot at the South Tryon Street entrance to the museum, and gave its height as about 18 feet.

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PRACTICAL

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WHAT TO EXPECT

An outdoor sculpture that the museum describes as on the plaza in front of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art in uptown Charlotte. The museum says its reflective surface picks up traffic, trees, buildings and passers-by. Visit Charlotte placed The Green, a pocket park, across South Tryon Street. In October 2024 Praise Charlotte described it as a popular selfie spot.

ACCESS

On the plaza of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, which faces South Tryon Street in uptown Charlotte. The museum describes it as privately owned public art on its welcome plaza.

COMMUNITY