S/WING, a new public artwork by Charlotte-based artist Ivan Depeña, will fill the open green space between Whittingham and Muirfield Drive in time for the Memorial Tournament's 50th Anniversary.

S/WING will be an invitation for all of us to experience our surroundings anew," says Ava Morgan, Dublin Arts Council's Director of Public Practice. "Artists like Ivan Depeña are skilled at sparking curiosity and changing our relationships to places we inhabit. This is such an important artwork for Dublin."

The process of commissioning this public artwork began with a donation of the land from the Muirfield HOA to the City of Dublin. In addition, the Ohio Legislature and the following Ohio Senators were also involved in making the project happen: Andy Brenner, Bill Reineke, Stephanie Kunze, and now senator Beth Liston who have been instrumental in bringing this project to life, a testament to the collaborative spirit that makes public art possible.

The sculpture also subtly acknowledges Dublin’s golfing heritage. As Bob Fathman notes, “It’s wonderful to be able to honor a man like Jack Nicklaus, whose world fame has added so much to Muirfield Village and to what Dublin is today.”

To appreciate what S/WING means for Dublin, it helps to understand what public art has always meant here.

Since 1988, the Dublin Arts Council's Art in Public Places program has operated on a simple but powerful belief: art belongs in everyday community life, not only in galleries. Born from a partnership between the City of Dublin and the Dublin Arts Council, the program has grown into a nationally recognized model for suburban public art.

Its very first major commission set the tone. Leatherlips (1990), by Ralph Helmick, honored a Wyandot leader with deep ties to the region, and established from the start that Dublin's public art would be site-specific, historically aware, and rooted in place. Today, the collection spans more than 60 temporary and permanent works by artists from across the country.

The title S/WING is no accident. Depeña describes the work as a dialogue between avian movement and human dynamics; a nod between the site's natural history and its living, breathing community. The sculpture’s shape is inspired in part by the arc and rhythm of a golf swing, echoing the motion and energy of the surrounding landscape.

Birds carry deep symbolic weight in the traditions of the Shawnee, Wyandot, and Irish-Celtic peoples who have shaped this land: guides, messengers, and harbingers of change. The sculpture's organic green elements allow it to emerge naturally from the landscape, as if it has always belonged there.

Ivan Depeña’s practice weaves together art, architecture, technology, and design into experiences that feel both monumental and intimate. Holding a Master of Architecture from Harvard, Depeña approaches sculpture not as an object to be looked at, but as space to be felt, and he has brought that philosophy to major public commissions across the country.

At its heart, S/WING links Dublin's agricultural past to its golfing legacy, its indigenous history to its immigrant roots, and its creative community to the wider world. It celebrates motion while encouraging stillness - a gentle nudge to pause, look up, and see the familiar made new.

"The arts are not a side feature of strong cities," says Dublin Arts Council Executive Director Merijn van der Heijden. "They are infrastructure that makes people want to stay, invest, and belong."

The public dedication ceremony takes place on May 20, 2026, just ahead of the Memorial Tournament's 50th Anniversary. All are welcome. For more information, visit dublinarts.org/swing.