Two giant sunflower sculptures are coming to Dix Park

Thomas Sayre, the prominent Raleigh artist behind many of the city's most beloved public art installations, is bringing his work to Dorothea Dix Park.

Driving the news: Sayre, using private funding, will turn two power poles in the park into giant, steel sunflowers, the Dix Park Conservancy announced Wednesday.

• The 73-ft. sunflowers — an homage to the park's sunflower fields — are near the entrance to the under-construction Gipson Play Park and will be built next year.

Context: Sayre has created some of the most recognizable public art in the city, including: the arches at the N.C. Museum of Art, the shimmer wall on the Greater Raleigh Convention Center and the canopy at Raleigh Union Station.

Details: The project will cost $2.5 million — a sum that the Dix Park Conservancy has already raised a significant portion of.

• Sayre is creating the sunflowers in partnership with Duke Energy engineers so that the power lines remain accessible with the installation.