The first 100 participants to complete the series will receive a
limited edition collectible coin.
To claim your coin, send us an email at
parksdepartment@arlingtontx.gov. Be sure to include the code
letters from each of the eight caches, your name and address and we
will mail the limited edition collectible coin to you. Code letters
are located on the lids of each cache.
The environmental sculpture known as Caelum Moor has a long
history in Arlington, Texas. The 5-acre work of art, created by
sculptor Norm Hines, Professor of Art at Pomona College in
Claremont, California, includes five groups of granite monuments
set in a landscape. The sculpture is designed to provide an
attractive and engaging environment for the public - a place to
gather, to observe and reflect, to be refreshed, to enjoy the
blending of nature and art. Norm Hines was a professor of art at
Pomona College in Claremont, California, in 1984 when he was
commissioned by Jane Mathes Kelton to create the environmental work
of art that came to be known as Caelum Moor. Kelton was a resident
of Arlington and the CEO of the Kelton Mathes Development
Corporation. The sculpture was originally designed as the
centerpiece of The Highlands development in south Arlington and it
was completed and dedicated in 1986.
Caelum Moor was named and designed with reference to megalithic
monuments. Kelton, whose ancestry was Scottish and who was drawn to
the ancient sites found throughout the British Isles, made the
Scottish design request in her commission of the artwork. The
Caelum Moor commission took two years to complete and cost $1.5
million to construct. The completed work of art, which included a
park that Hines also designed, was later appraised at more than $3
million. The sculpture is comprised of five individual groups of
stones, each with its own Celtic name within a landscaped setting.
The name “Caelum” is derived from a constellation in
the southern skies known as the “sculptor's tool”.
“Moor” refers to the windswept landscapes common to
ancient sites. The Celtic titles of each of the five granite
monuments - Tolmen Barrow, Tan Tara, Morna Linn, Sarsen Caer and
De'Danaan - further reflect the Scottish heritage. The stone
monuments ranging in height from 8 to 30 feet, and weighing a total
of more than 540 tons, have however no celestial connection. While
the stone groups are reminiscent of the forms of ancient monoliths,
they diverge in important ways. Each group is unique, offering
carved details designed to encourage visitors to approach and
engage the polished surfaces. Tolmen Barrow, for instance, has a
hole cut through its central stone. On the inner surfaces of Tan
Tara, two polished, concave, circles produce the effect of an echo
chamber. Morna Linn incorporates water, adding the element of sound
to a contemplative environment. Throughout the sculpture, there are
abstract patterns, carved and polished, that can be explored with
the fingers as well as the eyes.
From 1986 to 1997, Caelum Moor was located at the headwaters of
Johnson Creek along Interstate 20 in south Arlington. For more than
a decade, Caelum Moor served as a popular gathering place for
individuals and families, and as the site of major public events
such as the Highland Games. In 1997, the land occupied by the
sculpture was sold for redevelopment. As a result, the 22 stones
comprising the five monuments were donated to the City of Arlington
by WindStar Properties. For the next 12 years, the stones were
stored at the Pierce Burch Water Treatment Facility. In 2009,
thanks to revenue generated from the Tax Increment Reinvestment
Zone, Caelum Moor was reinstalled in Richard Greene Linear Park in
a new configuration designed by the sculpture artist, Norm Hines.
With its relocation in north Arlington, Caelum Moor once again have
the opportunity to provide an attractive and engaging environment
for the public to gather, to observe and reflect, to be refreshed
and to enjoy the blending of nature and art.