Tambourine Cypress honors the natural landscape, music, and people that have inhabited the land surrounding Claiborne Avenue over thousands of years. This sculpture marks the site as a space for contemplation and celebration. It is the artist’s hope that one day the Claiborne Avenue Bridge will be removed and the descendants of the displaced will return. The glittering sounds of the tambourine branches are meant to connect us with the sounds of the Black Masking Indians, the rhythms of gospel music, the accents of Jazz, and the entire range of music that relies on the tambourine for an auditory twinkle. The notes played by the wind chimes are inspired by Haute Savoie, a composition by New Orleans flautist, scholar, and composer, D’Antoinette Handy.

This sculpture was co-commissioned by Prospect New Orleans for Prospect.6: The Future Is Present, The Harbinger Is Home and Arts New Orleans for the City of New Orleans Percent for Art Program