Giant cross designed by former
student erected near Kerrville

A former student's giant sculpture has made a major change to the landscape beside Interstate 10 near Kerrville, Texas.

Max Greiner, Jr., who earned a Bachelor of Environmental Design degree from Texas A&M's College of Architecture in 1974, designed a 77-foot, 7-inch-tall cross that was raised July 27 on a site approximately 65 miles northwest of San Antonio.

"It's going to bless the community forever and ever and ever," Greiner told Zeke MacCormack of the San Antonio Express-News in a story posted July 31.

The cross, the centerpiece of a planned 23-acre religious sculpture garden, was designed by an artist who credits Aggie faculty members with his creative development.

"Highly gifted professors like Rodney Hill and Alan Stacell inspired Max to new heights of imagination," states Greiner's biography on his studio website. "Max learned the fundamentals of timeless design at college and acquired the technical skills needed to execute his abundance of creative ideas."

Hill has been a faculty member at the college since 1969; Stacell taught until 2001 when he succumbed to cancer shortly after retiring.

Greiner's drawing, painting, sculpture and photography work is available to view at his studio's site, www.maxgreinerart.com/home.htm.

To read MacCormack's story in Express-News about the structure's installation visit www.mysanantonio.com.

The Austin-American Statesman's coverage of the cross is at www.statesman.com.

A video report by San Antonio's KENS-TV on the Greiner cross is available at www.kens5.com.

- Posted: Sept. 6, 2010 -

Contact:   Phillip Rollfing, prollfing@archone.tamu.edu or 979.458.0442.