Firebird by Jeff Barbier Photography

The Firebird, or L’Oiseau de feu sur l’arche (The Large Bird of Fire on an Arch). Charlotte’s Firebird features a golden sun on its chest and back with flames around its head illustrating de Saint Phalle’s use of mythology in the design. Standing 17-feet-5-inches tall at 1,433 pounds, the sculpture is hand decorated with more than 7,500 pieces of mirrored and colored glass that shimmer under the sun and catch the reflections of the people and places nearby – experiencing a rebirth and telling a new story in each location it has journeyed to. Since its creation in 1991, the Firebird has flown from city to city on display in various exhibits until Charlotte resident and Switzerland native Andreas Bechtler, the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art’s benefactor and namesake, purchased the sculpture after viewing it at the Atlanta Botanical Garden in 2006.