Dallas Has a Story for That

Why Is There a Giant Eyeball Downtown... and a Giant Jackass in McKinney?

Drive around North Texas long enough and eventually you’ll see something that makes you ask:

Why is THAT there?

A 30-foot eyeball staring across Main Street in downtown Dallas.

A giant concrete jackass greeting visitors at an icehouse in McKinney.

And, as it turns out, those are only the beginning.

Welcome to Dallas Has a Story for That, a new series about the strange, funny, unexpected and occasionally petty stories hiding in plain sight around Dallas-Fort Worth.

Some will be carefully documented history. Some will be local legends that have been repeated so many times they've practically become part of the city itself.

And sometimes, figuring out which is which is half the fun.

First Up: The Giant Eyeball Across From The Joule

If you've spent much time downtown, you've probably seen it.

Sitting in a garden directly across Main Street from The Joule is an enormous blue eye, complete with blood vessels, staring back at the city.

It isn't a billboard. It isn't part of an optometrist's office.

It's art.

The sculpture is called Eye, and contemporary artist Tony Tasset modeled it after his own eye. The 30-foot fiberglass, resin and steel sculpture was originally commissioned for Chicago's Art Loop program, where it appeared in Pritzker Park in 2010.

Headington Companies, owner of The Joule, later acquired the piece, and it arrived in Dallas in 2013.

That is the documented version.

But Dallas, naturally, has another version.

The “Eye-Sore” Story

One of the stories that has circulated locally is that Joule owner Tim Headington wanted to develop the property across the street and ran into opposition to a proposed parking structure because it would be an “eyesore.”

And so, according to the legend, Dallas eventually got an actual eye-sore instead.

A gigantic one.

Is it true?

That's where this series gets fun.

Even The Joule acknowledges that there's “fact and a whole lot of fiction” surrounding Eye's origins. The documented history clearly establishes where the sculpture came from and how it reached Dallas, but I haven't found reliable primary-source documentation proving that the giant eye was installed as revenge over someone calling a proposed development an eyesore.

So for now I'm filing this one under:

Excellent Dallas lore. Possibly too perfect to be true.

Either way, downtown Dallas ended up with one of its most recognizable landmarks.

Then There’s Lucky in McKinney

Head north to McKinney and you'll encounter another piece of North Texas public art that's considerably less subtle.

Outside The Stix Icehouse sits an enormous concrete jackass named Lucky.

Yes, that's really what he is.

And Stix isn't exactly shy about him.

The restaurant has made Lucky one of its mascots, and publicity surrounding Stix's 2021 opening actually described him as its “LMAO donkey mascot.”

Dallas Observer later gave visitors some equally practical directions:

Just look for the giant jackass out front.

Stix itself now has an entire page devoted to “Lucky's Story,” and Lucky has become a popular photo stop for families visiting the sprawling McKinney restaurant and outdoor recreation space.

So Why a Giant Jackass?

This is another story with a colorful local version, which is exactly why it belongs here.

Stories circulated around McKinney connecting Lucky's creation to a dispute involving trees on the property and suggesting that the sculpture was, at least in part, a rather cheeky response.

The giant jackass even carries the not-particularly-subtle association with LMAO: Laughing My Ass Off.

But just as with the Eye, I'm drawing a line between what can be documented and what has grown through retelling.

What we can establish is that developer Don Day purchased the 14-acre property with its mature trees and partnered with Mike and Rae Luther to create The Stix Icehouse. When Stix opened in 2021, Lucky was already very intentionally part of its personality.

And whatever inspired him, it's difficult to imagine a more Texas response than putting an enormous jackass at the entrance and turning him into a local celebrity.

And This Is Exactly Why I Love Dallas

We spend a lot of time talking about Dallas in terms of growth, real estate, architecture and development.

But cities get their personality from the smaller stories too.

The sculpture everyone drives past.

The strange building you've always wondered about.

The neighborhood landmark with an inside joke behind it.

The decision somebody made decades ago that still affects what we see today.

And sometimes the story everyone tells about a place turns out to be every bit as interesting as the official one.

That's what Dallas Has a Story for That is going to explore.

Some stories will be strange.

Some will be funny.

Some may involve legitimate acts of civic pettiness.

And whenever a great local legend needs a little fact-checking, we'll do that too.

Because around here, there's almost always a story behind what you're looking at.

Have You Heard a Dallas Story I Should Investigate?

If there's a building, sculpture, road, neighborhood landmark or just plain weird thing around DFW that you've always wondered about, send it my way.

I already have a feeling this series is going to get interesting.

Dallas Is More Fun When You Know the Story

I’m Kelly Reber, a Dallas REALTOR® and lifelong North Texas local who believes understanding a neighborhood means knowing more than home prices and square footage. The places, people, architecture and stories behind Dallas are part of what makes living here interesting.

If you're thinking about buying, selling, relocating or simply want to know more about where Dallas is headed, I'd love to be a resource. Let's chat!

Kelly Reber, REALTOR® | eXp Realty LLC | Texas License #0483312
Licensed since 2000
Dallas | Richardson | Plano | Addison | North Dallas
Dallas native Kelly Reber has been helping buyers, sellers, relocating clients, and investors navigate North Dallas real estate since 2000. She combines deep local knowledge, data-driven strategy, and straightforward advice to help clients make confident real estate decisions.

Learn more: About Me