Who has seen the wind? Neither I nor you: But when the leaves hang trembling The wind is passing through. Who has seen the wind? Neither you nor I: But when the trees bow down their heads …
Hulking Giants
Hulking Giants, part of a project called Tilting at Windmills, are shown on both corners of the Cubic form of the artist’s studio. They are respectively 576cm (19ft) and 384cm (13ft) high and 64cm (2.1ft) wide. Both are attached to a synchronized digital loop player. These two (2) visual art displays rotate at a constant speed of about 3 seconds …
The Black Crown of Perpetual Loss
The Black Crown of Perpetual Loss builds upon artist Larassa Kabel’s frequent use of animals to explore difficult truths about love and death. Inspired by a small Bronze Age figure in The Menil Collection of Houston, TX, Kabel’s bronze sculpture uses a two-headed stag to represent the intrinsic ties between love and loss. The stags are modeled on fallow deer, …
River Constellation
River Constellation is a responsive sculpture evoking a thicket of light and sound, honoring the donors who support Des Moines’ Water Works Park. Forty-five (45) ten-foot tall poles holding 12-inch diameter orbs that softly pulse with light are arranged to suggest the path of the Raccoon River through Water Works Park’s 1,500 acre natural environment. Individual rings mounted to the …
Even Water
Water plays a critical role in a community’s quality of life, from public health and safety to recreation and beauty. Knowing what a watershed is and how we can each play a role in preserving its function and value is important but rarely understood. The West Des Moines Public Arts Advisory Commission use this public art initiative to raise awareness …
LOVE
An icon of American Modern Art — LOVE — 1969-1999, is the signature work of art by artist Robert Indiana. The word Love in upper-case letters, arranged in a square with a tilted letter “O”. Beginning in 1964, Indiana began to create images and objects using the word LOVE. Indiana maintained that a single word could be a viable subject …
Iron Tree Trunk
“Iron Tree Trunk” (2015) a life-sized cast of a tree found in the Jiangxi Province of Weiwei’s native China, unites individual pieces of iron into a whole structure. Its size comes matched by small nuances, down to tree rings around the base and weathered cracks in the bark. This massive cast of a tree references both the cultural tradition of …
RAGBRAI: River to River
This public art work, RAGBRAI: River to River (working title), honors two individuals, John Karras and Donald Kaul, who founded RAGBRAI is the oldest, largest and longest recreational bicycle touring event in the world. RAGBRAI is an acronym and registered trademark for the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, which is a non-competitive bicycle ride organized by The Des Moines Register and …
Pumpkin (L)
Yayoi Kusama’s family ran a seed and plant nursery in her native Japan, and the artist grew up surrounded by fields of plants. As a result, pumpkins, usually covered in the artist’s signature fields of polka dots, have appeared in her art since she was a young girl. “It seems pumpkins do not inspire much respect,” Kusama once said. “But …
Miffy Fountain
All is flux, nothing stays still. A Greek quotation attributed to Heraclitus: “All is flux, nothing stays still” is an appropriate way to begin to talk about Miffy Fountain. The sight and sound of moving water is both stimulating and entrancing. Throughout history, people have attempted to shape and control this elusive element in fountains. From the beginning, fountains have …
Gray’s Lake Bridge
Located in Gray’s Lake Park, Gray’s Lake Bridge is an urban gem. After extensive renovations, the area opened as a City park in 2001. It has drawn people looking for a place of peaceful retreat and outdoor recreation and provides a beautiful gateway to downtown Des Moines. In 1998, David and Elizabeth Kruidenier came forward with a vision for Grays Lake Park and …
Volutes Tapestry
The Volutes Tapestry, 98 h x 75 w inches (249 x 190 cm) was designed in 1959 by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, one of the great European pioneers of modern art. His signature is woven in the reverse side. “Volutes” is a French word for an architectural description of a kind of scrollwork of shells. This work was made from …
Tall Grass Tapestry
In creating the concept design for this project, Troy Corliss considered the public viewing opportunities for the suspended art on the second floor of the waiting area at the DART Central Station. He believed that a colorful and translucent tapestry symbolizing the tall grass prairie will produce a vibrant and intriguing image above the main entrance of the building. The suspended …
4th & Walnut Looking West ca 1906
A mural painting by Doug Shelton is located in the lobby of the former Hotel Kirkwood, 400 Walnut St., Des Moines. The Hotel Kirkwood, built in 1930, is located in the heart of downtown Des Moines. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Pipes of Pan
Made of welded CorTen steel (corrosion resistant steel) and malleable iron, The Pipes of Pan measures 282 inches (23 feet, 6 inches) high and 22 inches in diameter. It was commissioned in 1992 for one of the first interactive science centers in the world—the Science Center of Iowa. This outdoor public installation was created for the Science Center’s original site in Greenwood Park. Featured are a large …
Transportion Signature
Transportation Signature was created by artist David Dahlquist and RDG IA Inc. (dba RDG Dahlquist Art Studio) for theDes Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART) in downtown Des Moines. This screen-wall is located just south of DART’s multi-modal hub, based on the words “Des Moines” written in script. The commission was approved in 2012. The project, 9-feet height and 180-feet long, …
Rainy Day in Des Moines
The mural Rainy Day in Des Moines is no longer accessible. Since 2016, an interior wall on the 2nd floor (skywalk level) of the Equitable Building has covered the mural. Doug Shelton’s mural captures a historical street view of the 19-story Equitable Building which towered above Des Moines’ skyline at 604 Locust Street when completed in 1924. It remained the tallest building …
Untitled
According to the artist, this 2001-2003 sculpture references real psychological states and human movement that are caught between implosion and explosion, between troubling collapse and exuberant release. The author Michele Gerber Klein suggested that the artist’s “work is about longing and impossibility.” Here Shapiro courts gravity as a sculptural partner, and his sculpture plays with gravity’s pull in an interactive …
Untitled
This monumental sculpture is characteristic of the brilliant geometric forms which James Rosati created. It is made up of elements that are rectilinear, but no two lines or planes are parallel. Because of the angles of the planes in these non-symmetrical elements, the forms seem to advance or recede in space. This sense of movement is enhanced by the changing …
Untitled
Ellsworth Kelly’s visual vocabulary is drawn from observation of the world around him—shapes and colors found in plants, architecture, shadows on a wall or a lake. This creative way of communicating has been shaped by his interest in the spaces between places and objects and between his work and its viewers. The artist has said, “In my work, I don’t …
Swirl
This unique public artwork is titled “Swirl ” — the sculpture’s depth is 28 feet, width is 94 feet, and height is 28 feet. Swirl is made up of nine stainless steel uprights and more than 8,000 LED lights that are suspended in the air. The LED lights are programed to display prerecorded images each night at dusk [after sunset and just before night] …
High Trestle Trail Bridge
The High Trestle Bridge stands 13 stories high and spans ½ mile across the Des Moines River between Madrid and Woodward. The “portals” or vertical elements that form a gateway to the Des Moines River Bridge are sculptural symbols that speak to this geology, the cutting and slicing of nature that forms this river valley. Seen from a distance, they …
Thinker on a Rock
In “Thinker on a Rock” the artist substitutes his signature hare for Rodin’s Thinker (1880), making a witty and irreverent reference to one of the world’s best-known sculptures. Other Barry Flanagan statues of “Thinker on a Rock” are located in Utrecht, Netherlands and in Washington, D.C. in the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden.
In the Morning
In the Morning” is a a cast bronze sculpture, initially formed in clay from a model during a workshop in Upstate New York. Although Anthony Caro is best known for his abstract sculpture in steel and other materials, he is no stranger to the figure. His conversion to abstraction took place after a visit to the US in 1959, but …
World War I Monument
Signed “C. H. Niehaus 1925”, The World War I Monument in Des Moines, Iowa, was created by Charles Henry Niehaus. About Iowa in World War I Of the 500,000 Iowa men registered for the draft, about 115,000 served in the armed forces. Camp Dodge a few miles northwest of Des Moines became a major training center for new troops. Soldiers …
Gymnast III
Gymnast III is cast in bronze and more than seven-feet tall. The “Gymnast” series of sculpture captures the basic strength of a bending and stretching athlete, rather than with the kind of virtuosity that brings an Olympic audience to its feet. Limbering up, not performing, is its subject matter. The figure is highly simplified. Although neither head, nor arms nor …
Marriage
“Marriage” is one of Smith’s important early large-scale works and masterfully combines abstract geometric forms with human characteristics. Formally, “Marriage” offers an arch for the viewer to pass through, and presents a dialogue between the various connecting rectangular blocks. The work’s title, a dominant cultural institution, implies a specific interpretation for the sculpture.
Plantoir
The French noun plantoir is a pointed hand-tool for making holes in the ground for seeds or young plants. This tool often called a dibble and sometimes a trowel. This whimsical, oversize gardener’s trowel titled “Plantoir” created by artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, was designed specifically for outdoor viewing in a garden setting. The brilliant red digging tool is an exaggeration in form and color. …
Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil War Monument
The State of Iowa erected this monument, funded partially by refunded war taxes, to commemorate Iowans who fought during the Civil War. The monument was approved in 1888, the cornerstone was laid in 1894, and the structure was completed two years later. Because a controversy developed over the location and artistic details of the monument, nearly 50 years passed before …
A World of Possibilities
Viola Frey’s giant ceramic sculptures of men and women are among the under-appreciated wonders of late 20th-Century art. Rising upwards of eleven feet, they have an imposing physical presence and a clunky, cartoonish ugliness. Roughly glazed in strident colors and made in sections that fit together like blocks in a stone wall, they could be mistaken for a …
Spider
The artist, Louise Bourgeois, has been using spiders in her work since the 1940s, and in the 1990s began sculpting them into colossal forms like this. Surprisingly, she sees them not as ominous predators, but as a symbol for her much beloved mother. For the artist, whose work has explored themes of childhood memory and loss, the spider carries associations …
Prairie Song
“Prairie Song” consists of five 20-foot tall blades of prairie grass, made from stainless steel. Each“leaf” encases a corrugated steel tube filled with steel balls that rattle in the wind. The artist team calibrated the poles’ hinges to sway in a heavy gust of wind. Like seeds using the wind, these pods chime with the movement of the stalks. Each …
What We Love About Clive
The artist created 72 six-inch tiles fabricated in concrete with dyed color variations. Each tile has textural engraving with contoured lines depicting images. The contoured lines are filled with colored slurry that compliments the tile and the color theme of the streetscape improvements. The theme and subject of the tiles include: celebrate community, history, family, friendship, citizenship, stewardship, nature, city …
Post Balzac
Made of cast bronze and stone, Judith Shea’s sculpture is 110 x 28-1/2 x 28-1/2 inches. In addition to artist Judith Shea’s articulate comments — accessed from the audio link — an insight into this artwork is provided from examining “Study for Balzac’s Dressing Gown” by Auguste Rodin (French, 1840-1917) in the Collection of the Musee Rodin in Paris, France. …
Animal Pyramid
The 12-foot high, cast-bronze sculpture, Animal Pyramid (1990), is a triangular composition of seventeen separate animals cast from the taxidermy forms of caribou, deer, and foxes. Standing on the backs of five caribou are eight deer rearing their front legs as if jumping. The crown of the Animal Pyramid are four foxes balancing on the heads each deer. Animal Pyramid has elements …
Expansion
Expansion was fabricated by the artist in collaboration with Derix Glasstudios in 2012-13 and installed on site between October 21 and 23, 2013. Illuminated from behind with 39,060 LED lights, the mural is located on the exterior wall of the triangular pump station and faces north towards the HubSpot Plaza and pavilion where, Kaneko’s signature “dango” sculptures stand. In April …
Shattering Silence
The sculpture is adjacent to the building that houses the Iowa Supreme Court and at the top of the hill overlooking the Des Moines skyline. It is in commemoration of the 170th anniversary of the landmark 1839 Iowa Territorial Supreme Court ruling that prohibited slave Ralph Montgomery from being extradited back to Missouri after he failed to raise the $550 …
Westward
Extending the full width of the east wall over the staircase is the great mural painting, “Westward,” an idealized representation depicts early pioneers traveling through Iowa. Pioneers are led across the West by Spirits of Enlightenment, symbolized by the air-borne female holding an open book, and Civilization, symbolized by similar figures sowing grain. The Spirits of Stream and Electricity, holding …
The Seam
[…] the front of Principal Park in Des Moines frames the steel sculpture of a stylized baseball by Iowa sculptor James Ellwanger. [Made of Galvanized steel, aluminum chip paint], the sculpture honors former Iowa Cubs owner Ken Grandquist (1923-1999) and is a gift from his family. A plaque there says, “Like the seams of a baseball which never end, Ken …
West Pediment
Video
Five Plate Pentagon
Despite steel’s well established use in 20th-century sculpture, Richard Serra chose to work with this medium in part because he felt the ubiquitous metal art of the time was not using the material for it’s inherent qualities-qualities he understood because of his early jobs at steel yards. Of this he said, “It had not been used for its weight, its …
White Ghost
Nara, who often uses dogs and children as subjects in his work, has uniquely combined the two for “White Ghost.” The sculptures are glossy white fiberglass, and sit on rough stone-like bases, referencing how artifacts and monuments from the past often appear in museums. By presenting the sculptures in such a way, he considers the future ruins of his own …
Five Dangos
Artist Jun Kaneko is a pioneer in the field of monumental ceramic sculpture. His five ceramic signature dangos (meaning rounded-form or dumpling in Japanese) were dedicated at a public celebration on November 13, 2012. The artist created this series of five ovular sculptures from 2001-2009. The hand built, ceramic works stand about 7.5 feet in height and resemble vases without …
Landscape Piece #1
Influenced by the monumental steel sculptures of David Smith and Alexander Calder, “Landscape Piece #1” is made of steel treated with zinc. It is a signature sculpture, composed of a pair of large cantilevered slabs of wood and steel. Monumental examples of similar compositions are located at the entrance of the Kansas City Art Institute; and a park in northern …
Cosmic Seed
In 1977, a sculpture was commissioned by the State of Iowa for the Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship in Des Moines. The commission is Cosmic Seed, a seminal work by American artist Ronald Bladen. Its tensile energy is extracted from the connections between perfect planes, elegant forms, and careful consideration of spaces and voids. An outdoor, monumental sculpture, Cosmic …
Crown
In 2011, ASI Custom Sheet Metal, Inc. was contacted by Des Moines artist, James Ellwanger, to build a life size replica of the Statue of Liberty’s crown to be placed atop of the new Exile Brewing Company restaurant in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. Framed of a steel structure and then cladded in copper, the life sized crown measures approximately 30ft …
A Social History of Des Moines
The mural cycle took from September 1937 to December 1941 to complete. Artist Harry Donald Jones was assisted by three other artists, Opal Adams, Paul Paffinbarger, and Paul Backensten, and a crew of 18 WPA workers, mainly plasterers. Historian and author Gregg R. Narber Ph.D. wrote in 1982: “The Children’s Reading Room was decorated under the WPA in true fresco on …
Standing Stones
The artist’s site-specific sculpture celebrates the rise and fall of the land and experience of seeing the work through walking or driving past the Des Moines Art Center. The hill shifts in two directions and the stones mark the shift in the landscape. Intended to be human scale, the approximately five (5) feet high stones were quarried in Sweden. A …
Granite Tree
Texas pink granite.
Disney Murals
Anna and A.H. Blank established the Raymond Blank Memorial Hospital for Children in Des Moines in 1944 in honor of their son, who died at the young age of 33. It was the only civilian hospital built during WWII. A.H. Blank, known for his generous holiday parties for patients, was a philanthropist who had made his fortune in the movie theater …
Life Flight Crew Memorial
The “Life Flight Memorial” is composed of four bronze life size, female figures and serves as a monument to the crews of Life Flight helicopters. Dimensions: four life size figures, 64″ X 88″ X 52″
“Rack-n-Roll” Project
The East Village “Rack-n-Roll Project” was funded in part and guided by the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation. The project was an open competition, resulting in over 20 entries from Iowa artists. The bicycle “art racks” are functional pieces that serve the dual purpose of securing bicycles while introducing public art into the East Village streetscape. The bicycle art …
A Veteran’s Prayer for Eternal Peace
A Veteran’s Prayer for Eternal Peace is a 15-foot-high, bronze sculpture at the center of a memorial to military chaplains. A large, cupped pair of hands is supported by a series of short poles. The hands are in the center of a circular plaza with a walkway that includes benches, depictions of chaplains, and symbols of religious beliefs.
John Ruan, Sr.
Portrayed in his signature bowtie and business suit, this sculpture depicts Des Moines entrepreneur John Ruan, Sr. (1914-2010). Ruan established the foundation that sponsors the World Food Prize. The Prize honors the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world. The sculpture of John Ruan is sited so …
Slides
The painted and fused glass installation called “Slides” is integrated into the Laboratory’s visitor entrance. It is arranged within a triangular-shaped atrium. The exterior glass walls are faced with either a grid or row of glass sheets imprinted with a countryside vista or detail. There are four layers of translucent panels positioned in front of each scene of nature. This …
Three Way Piece No. 1: Points
From an edition of 3: The other two casts of “Three Way Piece No. 1: Points are located at the Law School Garden at Columbia University, New York, and in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia.
Dephinus
“Dephinus” is the latin word for Dolphin. In contemporary use, the word is used to refer to the genus name of the common dolphin in taxonomy and to a constellation that was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer, Ptolemy. Although Dolphins are generally considered to be benign and intelligent creatures, the bronze sculpture by the artist Eric …
T8
T8 is a bold, dynamic work that punctuates the urban street corner as traffic flows east along Locust Street. This monumental piece has consistently drawn critical acclaim, confronting audiences with a vivid orange-red color and mesmerizing even the casual passer-by with subtle energy and intricate proportion.The artist draws inspiration from many sources including mathematics, physics, music, poetry and astronomy. From …
Folded Circle Zig
The “Folded” concept is a central form in Benton’s work. As suggested by its title, Folded Circle Zig, the piece consists of circular, pie-shaped slices, and zig forms. They are engaged in a dynamic rhythmic interaction with each other and with the negative space suggested by the solid forms; the void is a vital element of the sculpture.
Nation at Play
In the 1982 “A Catalog of New Des Mural Projects in Iowa”, co-authors Lea Rosson DeLong and Gregg R. Narber explained that the Chamberlain’s painting “portrays play and recreational activities of children: track, tennis, marbles, bike riding, band, boy scouts, and a flag raising.” In the 1930’s the famous murals, under the direction of Grant Wood, were painted for the …
Dr. Norman E. Borlaug
John Collier created this eight-foot statue of Dr. Norman E. Borlaug (1914 – 2009), the agronomist, humanitarian, father of the Green Revolution and founder of The World Food Prize. The artist depicts the scientist in his work clothes. The figure of Dr. Borlaug stands in the public gardens of the Borlaug Hall of Laureates and faces northwest towards his grandparents’ farm …
air gets into everything even nothing
Fabricated in aluminum and coated in white enamel, Ugo Rondinone’s series of sculptures are cast from olive trees found in the countryside outside Naples, Italy—the hometown of the artist’s parents. Italian law mandated that rubber casts be done on-site. In the foundry, wax gave way to a final aluminum cast, painted in weather-resistant white paint and weighing approximately one ton. In …
Back of a Snowman (Black)
In the audio guides available for free to John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park visitors, the Des Moines Art Center’s assistant curator Laura Burkhalter speaks with great interest about the glossy surfaces of this pair of sculptures by the British artist, Gary Hume. The work of the Young British Artists (YBA) group, with which Hume exhibited and is often associated, has many affinities with …
Reclining Figure
Willem de Kooning’s sculpture is the least-known aspect of his work. The sculpture, depicting de Kooning’s classic elemental woman.De Kooning made his first sculptures in 1969, a group of thirteen hand-sized bronzes based on the human figure. It was not until 1980, however, that he was able to complete the first of the monumental sculptures.
Temple Chess & Poetry Garden
Dedicated May 16, 2006, this work of art by the American artist Siah Armajani, is completed only when someone enters it, sits down to play chess or reads the poetry or in some way becomes a participant. Armajani has created such environments all over the world, and they all reflect his belief in public art. These public spaces he creates …
Nation at Work
In the 1982 “A Catalog of New Des Mural Projects in Iowa”, co-authors Lea Rosson DeLong and Gregg R. Narber explained that the Grooms’ painting “portrays school activities of children and, in its center, the adult world of work: two classrooms are shown, one obviously a biology class, as well as a shop classroom. The adult work shown is building, …
Quantum Leaf
Quantum Leaf, about 15 feet in diameter and 11 feet in height and signed in the bronze “S PETTUS 2005”, looks like an oversized dying leaf with its edges curled. The sculpture was created as a fountain with water pouring from the leaf-form into a shallow circular pond. This public art project borders Grand Avenue, at the south edge of …
Moonrise, east. august
Rondinone’s series Moonrise—his 2005 figurative sculptures—are eight-foot-high busts derived from masks. Modeled in clay before being cast in aluminum and painted, the sculptures reveal the enduring marks of the artist’s hand. Rondinone has long been interested in the subject of time, and he represents it here by the relationship between moon, tide, and calendar. One of a series of the twelve sculptures, it was …
Greenwood Pond: Double Site
This outdoor installation, commissioned by the Des Moines Art Center, was created from 1989 to 1996 in consultation with local citizen groups, municipal agencies, and scientists. According to Miss, it is one of only eight permanent land works by the influential artist that remain intact, and is considered a pivotal work in her career. The museum selected Miss, Richard Serra, …
Back of a Snowman (White)
Although the two Back of a Snowman sculptures present in the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park are displayed together, they are actually two distinct examples of a larger series of sculptures that are identical in their dimensions but vary in color. The simplified form that British artist, Gary Hume, refers to as “snowman” also appears in a series of paintings …
Allée
Widely recognized as a major figure in American art, Davis won many awards and received honors from various museums and art organizations throughout the 1950s. The” Allée” commission marked Stuart Davis’ return to mural painting after a fifteen year hiatus. Davis visited Drake University in June of 1954 to meet with Eero Saarinen to select a location for his commissioned …
Spectral Liberation
The sculpture is in commemoration of Constance “Connie” Newman Belin (1930-1980), a community leader and philanthropist. The work was given by Leonard and Eileen Newman, brother and sister-in-law.
21st Boundary
The abstract steel sculpture is 252″ x 96″ x 48″.Savage & Ver Ploeg Inc., architectects ; Crose-Gardner & Associates, landscape architects.
Man and Pegasus
Man and Pegasus was made in an edition of six. The artist installed one cast at his home and sculpture park in Sweden after his retirement in 1950. The other bronze casts are in an office plaza in Dallas; the Hakone Open-Air Museum in Japan; the Middleheim Sculpture Park in Antwerp; and in Djakarta, India.
Prairie Emergence
Prairie Emergence represents prairie grasses sprouting from the earth.
Iowa Made: By Land and Hand
“Iowa Made: By Land and Hand” (Diego Rivera meets Grant Wood) – Awarded by the Iowa State Fair Board of Trustees and the State of Iowa, the ceramic mural and floor medallion is the public art focal point at the south entrance to the Knapp Varied Industries Building. The project “Iowa Made: By Land and Hand” (2002) is a 72 …
Confluence
Prominently featured in the main lobby of the 2012 central station of DART (Des Moines Area Regional Transit), Lynn Basa’s terrazzo floor design is made with crushed-up, recycled glass, mirror, and mother of pearl from old buttons. The stylized image hints at the city’s transportation history, with a DART route in yellow and gray stripes for the streets. Two blue …
Robert D. Ray Asian Gardens
The Robert D. Ray Asian Gardens features a 43.5′(L) x 24′ (W) x 37′(H) Asian pavilion atop an undulating bridge spanning a pond that cascades into the Des Moines River with a series of waterfalls. Accented by stone pagodas, lanterns and sculptural rock formations, the Asian garden’s flowing lyrical ambiance transports the strolling visitor to a picturesque Far Eastern paradise. …
A Monumental Journey
NATIONAL RECOGNITION In 2019, the Americans for the Arts awarded A Monumental Journey one of the 50 best public art projects in North America. Honoring NBA Founders The project honors the National Bar Association founders: 12 courageous African-American attorneys who — in Des Moines, IA — changed the course of American history in 1925. At a time when the American …
Hills, Fields, Wind, and Rain
This sculpture symbolizes the earth and the elements and their interaction. It fills a grassy island that is part of a popular business park in a northwest suburb of Des Moines and can be seen from Interstate 80.
Echo-Obelisk
The imagery recalls the history of Urbandale, Iowa, and a beacon marks a new destination/location.The Urbandale High School Corner Commission established a memorial on the south- west corner of 70th and Douglas to commemorate the school site. The 1925 cornerstone from the original brick building and plaques commemorating the graduating class members from 1937-1966 are part of the memorial. A …
Menorah
The sculpture was commissioned by The Waldinger Foundation, Des Moines, Iowa, 1975. It was presented in 1975 to the Tifereth Israel Synagogue by the Waldinger and Duitch Families in loving memory of their dear parents and grandparents, Harry and Golda Waldinger, and Jacob and Jessie Duitch, on the 75th anniversary of the congregation.
Five Stones, One Tree
Four towering, grey limestone blocks stand on this site: two rough-cut pillars, each comprised of two stones, were erected so that their extreme edges are about 22-feet apart. The four mammoth stones are paired so that their smoothly textured (opposite) sides face east/west and their adjacent surfaces that bulge with weathered, geological accretions face north/south. The fifth stone cube, a …
Decoy
Decoy is a bronze-sculpture by the artist Martin Puryear that is composed of two elements, a large, circular disk that appears to hover a few inches off the ground and a periscope-like appendage that protrudes from the edge of the disk. The perception that the base of the sculpture is hovering can be understood in relation to the title of the work; it …
Joy of Music
The “Joy of Music” sculptures, life-size and cast bronze edition of 21, are located throughout the United States including in the Civic Center of Loveland, Colorado; Hastings College, Nebraska; Rodman Center for the Arts, Ripon College, Wisconsin; Dearborn, Michigan; Holland, Michigan; and in the house of the woman who inspired the work of art.
Prairie Winds
Prairie Wind dominates the lobby of a major downtown Des Moines building and is most often viewed from a skywalk level. Its arcs and dips illustrate the wind whipping through the prairie.Asked about his inspiration, Hornecker states: “My work is built around my interest in the history and topography of the landscape. Rivers, land forms, rocks, trees, and the way …
Paragon Prairie
“Prairie Tower” is the largest Italian glass mosaic tile mural in the United States, and pays homage to the history of the native Iowa prairie. A double repeating pattern of native plants in a stylized deco landscape of field and sky serves as the image for the “Paragon Prairie Tower.” The main elements of the concept include the tower constructed …
Plains Aurora
Cork Marcheschi, currently living in San Francisco, CA, was commissioned in 1986 to create “Plains Aurora” for the State Historical Building. The Historical Building is located near the Iowa State Capitol on the east end of downtown Des Moines (today known as the Historic East Village). “Plains Aurora,” a 32-foot sculpture, is made of sandblasted glass blocks on the exterior, …
Family at Corner
The sculpture called “Family at Corner” was created by Watson Powell, Jr. , who served as chairman, CEO and president of American Republic Insurance Company. Following the path made from a drawing by Powell, and the work was cut from a flat-sheet of bronze using a laser cutter. The figurative elements were welded together to create the grouping. In 1967, …
US Senator William Boyd Allison Monument
About the Project Designed by Evelyn B. Longman of New York, the monument’s central plaque picturing Allison is flanked by symbols of “Knowledge” on the left and “Peace” on the right. The former is followed by “Legislature” and “Financial Prosperity,” the latter by “Humanity” and “Agricultural Prosperity.” The topmost figure, “The Republic.” About William B. Allison In 1917, …
Hand and Land: Fingerprint
Fabricated by the artists of RDG Dahlquist Art Studio including: Jen Anderson, Larry Bredeson, Jeff Blosser, Darla DeGroot, Brian Frederiksen, Chad French, Matt Johnson, Justin Richert, Chris Rodi, and Rick Stewart. Special recognition to Don Scandrett for stained glass fabrication. Additional services were provided by Travis Rice, with metal work by Jim Dawson, Ken Hyde and Josh Crook of Iowa …
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