The American Dream City is showing off its initial public artwork, the DREAM sculpture. Five letters each measuring 12 feet tall, 4 feet deep and up to 10 feet wide made of heavy sheet-metal steel form the word "dream" at 200 West Abram Street.

"You may love it or you may not love it because that's what public art is," said DREAM supporter Linda Dipert at the sculpture's unveiling in Arlington on Sept. 25, 2015. Public art spurs conversation, is free and open to everyone, and stirs up pride, she said.

Take, for instance, Chicago's Cloud Gate. The Bean, as it is also affectionately called, had its fair share of critics when it debuted, but no amount of money can take that piece away from the city, Dipert told the crowd gathered on Friday. Chicagoans won't allow for it.

That's what supporters hope to do by bringing public art to Arlington.

"Public art distinguishes us from other communities," said Bob Pruitt, the project's initiator. "I'd love for Arlington to be known as the City of Sculpture and Light with pieces that are as inspiring and engaging at night as during the day."

DREAM, created by artists Laura Kimpton and Jeff Schomberg, certainly achieves both. Flying birds were cut out of the steel to create movement and reduce the piece's weight. To inspire nighttime enjoyment, programmable LEDs lie inside each letter and flow from one hue to the next in orchestrated movement with lights outside the sculpture. Eventually residents and visitors will be able to change the color of the lights through an app on their mobile devices.

"I love it," said longtime Arlington resident and Levitt volunteer Lauri Crowell. "We've never had anything like it."

The Downtown Arlington Management Corporation and Arlington Tomorrow Foundation each contributed $25,000 in support of the $75,000 project, while private donors underwrote the rest.

Until a permanent location for DREAM is finalized, First Baptist Church-Arlington has agreed to host it on their downtown property west of Levitt Pavilion.

For more information about the DREAM or to donate to the project, visit DreamArlington.org.