Launch Intention

Launch Intention by Griffin Loop
Powder-coated steel, monumental paper airplane

At first glance, it’s simple: a paper airplane, tilted upward as if caught mid-flight. But at this scale—towering, gleaming in steel—Launch Intention transforms a child’s first creation into a symbol of freedom, vulnerability, and hope.

Artist Griffin Loop describes the paper airplane as one of the earliest acts of imagination we perform as children. We fold, we launch, we watch it soar—or stumble—into the unknown. In adulthood, that gesture becomes metaphor: setting intentions, embracing uncertainty, and taking the leap toward our dreams.

The sculpture is both playful and profound. It invites us back into childlike curiosity while reminding us of the courage it takes to aim forward in life. Loop calls it “a platform to solidify dreams and share with each other and the world—a symbol for optimism and hope. Self. Community. Support. Vulnerability and accountability.”

Loop’s practice revolves around large-scale public art, always designed as a tool for reflection, disruption, and connection. “I am a student of life,” he says. “Art is my vehicle to get a seat at the table—to ask, ‘What are we doing?’ and hold space for all to clarify where we want to go.”

One of three works in a series originally installed in Bentonville, Launch Intention now soars in the high desert of Art City. Here, against New Mexico’s endless sky, it carries its message farther: that we each have the power to fold a dream, lift it into the air, and see where it lands.