You might have already seen one—the metal piece of art that looks like part of a roller coaster at first glance but isn’t—just outside Regal Cinema College Station just west of Park Central Square. Or you might have noticed a tall red nude on the Springfield Brewing Company Balcony. They’re part of a sculpture walk that’s going in downtown. KSMU’s Michele Skalicky tells us more.
By May 6th there will be 12 new sculptures across downtown Springfield. They’re part of 2016 Sculpture Walk, which is being described as “a museum without walls with access to all.”
Brown said the goal of the annually-rotating exhibit is to promote economic development in downtown Springfield.
"We want to follow along the reconstruction that's been going on downtown and promote the area," she said.
But she sayidthey hope to eventually stretch across Springfield.
According to Brown, the first piece to go in is Communication Vine. The red and white metal sculpture arrived in 12 pieces and was installed by its creator, sculptor Eric Troffkin of Detroit, Michigan, at Campbell and College.
"It's talking about the relationship between the cityscape and plant life," she said.
Troffkin has said red and white towers and satellite dishes sprouting from building rooftops and alongside highways “feels very plant-like to me.”
The second sculpture went into place this week with the help of a crane. “Breathe” by Joan Benefield is a ten-foot-tall sculpture on the Springfield Brewing Company balcony.
"It's a figure of a female. She's red, and she's made of poured resin, so she's got a really interesting texture to her, and so, yeah, she's going to be really big and beautiful looking over downtown," she said.
Most pieces are by local artists, but three this year are from other states.
Brown said they released a call to artists last November and put together a three-tiered process of selection.
"The first one was looking at artistic values and then the second one was looking at safety and whether or not the pieces could sustain being outdoors for a year and then the third one was stakeholders from the downtown area deciding if it was appropriate for downtown," she said.
Sculpture Walk is privately funded. Brown said there’s a diverse group of people behind the project.
"We have people on our board and advisory committee from the (Springfield) planning department and from public works, architects. We have Nick Nelson from the art museum, so we've got a really eclectic group of people that's helping us do it and do it correctly," she said.
Artists are paid a stipend of $1000 for loaning their pieces to Sculpture Walk for a year. All pieces are for sale, and if a sculpture is sold, Sculpture Walk will keep 25% of the profits. Sponsorships are also available.
All 12 pieces are expected to be in place and ready for Sculpture Walk’s official opening during Arts Fest on the first weekend in May.
