Earthworks artist Stan Herd has unveiled an enormous portrait of NASA astronaut Stephanie Wilson in Woodruff Park in Atlanta. It is etched into the ground.

Transcript

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Stan Herd's latest work of art is on the smaller side, at least for him.

STAN HERD: Only covers 70 feet by 90 feet - ha. My images are usually, you know, two acres to 100 acres.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Seventy by 90 feet - that's more than 6,000 square feet. And it's a giant portrait of Stephanie Wilson, who is a NASA astronaut. Her face is now etched into the ground in downtown Atlanta. She looks up skyward out of a spacesuit helmet.

MARTINEZ: It took Herd and his team seven days to make the huge picture in Woodruff Park.

HERD: We create the image by subtracting grass out and then adding these other materials, like sand and mulch and pecan shells and compost and that type of thing.

INSKEEP: This is a pretty amazing image. I'm looking at it now. Wilson was only the second Black woman to go into space. And she's also one of 18 astronauts on the NASA Artemis team, set to go to the Moon in 2024.

HERD: The whole idea of this was to create an image and a message for the young women of Atlanta, especially the young minority women, that they can aim higher.

MARTINEZ: The portrait of Wilson debuted on Monday and coincided with the UN's International Day of the Girl Child and World Space Week.

HERD: She's persevered and worked hard. And she had a vision young and early. And she never let up - kind of like I feel like I do with my art. You just don't slow down. You keep going. You keep the thrust going. That's a rocket ship term - ha.

INSKEEP: And Stan Herd is not done taking inspiration from the sky for his projects.

HERD: Our hope is to create a second portrait, maybe of Sian Proctor, the astronaut that just came back from spaceflight.

MARTINEZ: Stephanie Wilson's portrait in Atlanta is viewable from nearby skyscrapers until October 22.

(SOUNDBITE OF DJ SABZI'S "AELOPOLIS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.