Public art honors Dabney Sanders on Downtown Greenway in Greensboro

A whimsical new sculpture on Greensboro’s Downtown Greenway now marks the spot where the project first broke ground and honors the man who helped carry it there.

The installation, titled Off We Go, recognizes Dabney Sanders, the longtime project manager whose nearly 20 years of leadership helped turn the greenway from a long-envisioned idea into one of Greensboro’s most visible civic assets. Installed along the Five Points section of the trail in Warnersville, the piece sits in public view where walkers, cyclists and neighbors pass every day, not in a museum or a ceremonial hall.

The sculpture was created by Brad Oldham and Christy Coltrin of Dallas, Texas. It features a tandem bicycle carrying two chickens and a puppy, imagery the Downtown Greenway said was inspired by Sanders’ personal interests and meant to evoke everyday joy, curiosity, loyalty and exploration. The name carries a dual meaning, pointing both to forward movement and to the moment the greenway began taking shape.

City officials said the piece was placed at the site of the project’s first groundbreaking in 2009, giving the tribute added weight in a neighborhood with its own deep history. Warnersville was Greensboro’s first planned African American community and was recognized in 2015 as the city’s first Heritage Community.

Sanders was identified by the Downtown Greenway as the founding project manager overseeing design, fundraising, construction, communications and public art for the $54-plus million, four-mile loop around downtown Greensboro. The greenway organization said public art has been a key feature of its design and placemaking, and the trail now includes more than 40 public art pieces.

The project’s roots go back more than two decades. Action Greensboro recognized in 2002 that turning the Downtown Greenway from concept to reality would require strong partnerships and leadership. Two years later, the Cone Health Foundation pledged $500,000 for conceptual design work and a master trails plan. Sanders joined in 2007 as the first dedicated staff member, and the greenway was later chosen as Greensboro’s Bicentennial signature project in 2006.

Today, the open sections of the Downtown Greenway average 9,770 users a month, according to the project’s history page, which also credits the trail with supporting 156 programs and events, 217 volunteers and 649 volunteer hours. The project counts 19,235 social media followers and 2,636 e-newsletter subscribers.

The new tribute arrives as the greenway heads toward another milestone: a full grand opening and ribbon-cutting for the completed loop is scheduled for May 16. For Greensboro, Off We Go is both a public artwork and a permanent reminder of the civic labor behind a trail that now shapes daily life downtown.