Patrick Renner
Patrick Renner is a native Houstonian. He received his BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2004 and his MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 2006. Renner has exhibited regionally and internationally, most recently in the Busan Biennale in South Korea. He is probably most well-known for Funnel Tunnel, his first large-scale public sculpture. The 180’ woven wood and metal construction began life in Houston; its original 18-month tenure on the median in front of sponsoring organization Art League Houston changed Montrose Blvd for a time. Since then, the art piece has moved to New Orleans for another long-term temporary stint on another median, as a part of the Poydras corridor sculpture installation.
At the beginning of 2016 he co-founded a company for the creation of large-scale sculpture, Flying Carpet Creative. Within the first year of business, Flying Carpet has already completed production and installation of two large public works. Trumpet Flower, currently on view in downtown Houston, is a vibrantly colored 6-story sculpture. The other piece, titled RHYZ, represents their first permanent piece. Made from concrete and woven stainless steel, it sits as the centerpiece of Domain Northside, one Austin's premier commercial-residential developments.