But a rich history fills the spinning birds and airplanes that top "Glimpses of the Promised Land," Raleigh's newest public art, officially unveiled Saturday in a Southeast Raleigh park.

The project quietly came to fruition while Spanish sculptor Jaume Plensa's Fayetteville Street design stole all the attention and ultimately died last week amid design disagreements, leaving some buzzing about the city's tactics and taste.

"It's been a challenging week for public art," Mayor Charles Meeker said during Saturday's dedication. "It's nice to have this success here."

The sculpture stands in Chavis Park to remind Raleigh of the neighborhoods that faced down Jim Crow-era discrimination. And if it works, said Carrboro artist Mike Roig, the swirling steel rings might inspire a new generation of creative minds.

"It will make a good spot for storytelling," Roig said. "My hope is that some of you will sit here and think of a role for yourselves in bettering this world, and then get up and make it happen."

The story of the Tuskegee Airmen moved Roig to build this piece, which includes models of P-51 Mustangs he built. The nation's first black military fliers, the airmen once displayed one of their planes in Chavis Park.

About a dozen members of the local chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, dressed in red blazers, saw the moving sculpture celebrated Saturday.

"I told them if the wind wasn't moving, I'd blow a little wind," said Harold Webb, a Wake County commissioner and Tuskegee Airman. "But I see it's moving, so that's all right."

Roig's sculpture stands on a hill just off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. With the downtown skyline peeking over the trees, it was impossible for the crowd to avoid thinking of a different piece of public art: Plensa's canopy of electric lights designed for Fayetteville Street, a project that expired when private donor Jim Goodmon pulled back his $2.5 million gift, saying the sculptor's plans had been gutted.

Though Roig's piece is much smaller and cost much less -- $20,000 -- the comparison was hard to miss.

Money for "Glimpses" came through the city Arts Commission's Red Wolf Ramble project, which placed more than 100 colorful wolf sculptures around the city in 2001 and 2002.

The event Saturday started with the Helping Hand Mission Marching Band, followed by a procession of city leaders, arts backers and children carrying pinwheels. Much of the event paid tribute to the airmen, whose local members took the first row of seats.

The first Tuskegee Airmen flew more than 15,000 sorties in World War II.

Leonard "Hawk" Hunter, spokesman for the Wilson Eagleson chapter, reminded the crowd of about 100 that blacks were originally thought ill-suited to fly because they would pass out at high altitudes -- a crock.

"This is for all the Tuskegee Airmen today," Hunter said, addressing younger members in the crowd. "Kids, I want you to see this sculpture and remember the people you see today."

The event had the crowd musing on the nature of the "promised land" -- what it looks like and how to get there.

It's a place that is built rather than found, Roig said, and he hoped that his art would serve as a seat to help people see it.