The editorial page isn't really the place for an art review, so suffice it to say that downtown Raleigh has a new artwork of sorts and it's positively ... huge.

The piece -- make that thousands of pieces of shiny metal -- is called a shimmer wall, and it forms the western facade of the new convention center, nearly a block long. Both center and shimmer wall are nearing completion.

The piece's many metal panels, which are hung so that the wind can set them to rippling, combine to depict a giant oak tree. It's a fitting subject for the City of Oaks, and even in its unfinished state the wall has motorists on adjacent McDowell Street looking up.

Credit for this "design element," as it's being called -- perhaps to avoid another "public art" controversy in Raleigh -- goes to local sculptor Thomas Sayre, with an assist from Cree Inc., the lighting company, which contributed $1 million.

The key to a successful project of this type is to create an artwork or design that both aspires to excellence and appeals to the public. The reviews aren't in, but Sayre's wall of oak could be one of those pieces.

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