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 …
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, …
A Shift in the Stream
At the beginning of 1995, nationally renowned artist, sculptor and architect Maya Lin (known for her design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial) was invited by the Principal Financial Group to create a work of art in conjunction with the construction of a new building on its corporate campus. The title of the work, A Shift in the Stream, refers to …
Les Vents
Edward Lee Hendricks’ trio of kinetic sculptures, called Les Vents (“The Winds”), are made of aluminum and stainless steel. Carefully crafted, these three graceful, precisely calibrated sculptures move with the wind at unpredictable intervals. Each calls attention to the effects of wind, light, and the changing surroundings. The sculptures are sited in Western Gateway Park, between the Central Public Library …
Untitled
Characteristic of Shapiro’s dynamic work composed of simple rectangular shapes, the bronze Untitled (1985) figure leans back on one arm, with its legs splayed widely across the platform. The fourth appendage can be read as either a downturned head or the second arm reaching upward. The artist’s figures are often posed awkwardly, seeming off balance or in the midst of an ungraceful motion, …
Greenfall
Greenfall grew from a 1986 bronze relief sculpture, titled Critical Juncture/ Fluid Boundary, depicting the clash of cultures between native inhabitants and early white settlers in Iowa. The original concept for Critical Juncture/Fluid Boundary called for a 38-foot wide waterfall to interact with the bronze relief. Greenfall simulates falling water with greenery and one-inch thick curved stainless steel rods spaced each foot along …
Sphere Within a Sphere
Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro’s 18,000-pound outdoor sculpture, “Sphere Within Sphere,” marks the building’s entrance. Set on an axis, the bronze sculpture revolves like a globe. Pomodoro is known for his sphere sculptures; his most famous are at Vatican City in Rome, Italy and the United Nations headquarters in New York. The artist said, “[the sculpture] reflects and accommodates the environment …
Wall Drawing #601, Forms Derived from the Cube
This architecturally scaled artwork was made for the I.M. Pei addition at the Des Moines Art Center. In the lobby of this corporate building, it’s deceptively simple geometric structures have been recreated with eye-candy opulence from the same seemingly prosaic instructions he detailed in 1989. LeWitt stressed the idea behind his work over its execution. This wall drawing began as …
The Big Question
The plaza of the Science Center of Iowa serves as a gathering place, a play area, and a science exhibit. The Big Question project transformed the area into an environment that brings to the outside of the building a sense of wonder and inquiry that visitors experience inside the Science Center. The Big Question plays with scale, encompassing infinitesimally small …
Construction
Construction is a billboard-sized outdoor installation with a dense arrangement of vertical, variegated, steel components. The variety of bright colors and orientations, and their placement at different heights is both irregular and rhythmic. Their arrangement evokes both the bold aesthetic of commercial branding, for which the artist, Ivan Chermayeff, became famous, and the experiments in color relationships and abstraction pioneered by artists like …
Steadfast
Steadfastis fabricated from steel and painted; its dimensions are 151 x 72 x 21 inches (383.5 x 182.8 x 53.3 cm). The sculpture was completed in 2000 and installed at its current location in 2008.
Yesterday
The piece is sculpted in hot wax over metal armature, then cast into bronze.
Lincoln and Tad
Created by artists Fred Martin and Mabel Landrum Torrey of Des Moines, this sculpture is titled Lincoln and Tad. It was dedicated 19 November 1961 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. A unique, bronze work of public art, the Torreys’ Lincoln and Tad is the first sculpture that memorializes Abraham Lincoln as a father, rather than as …
Nomade
The sculpture originally appeared in Antibes in the summer of 2007. During the closing of the Musée Picasso from March 2006 to July 2008, the deputy mayor of Antibes requested an outdoor project from curator Jean-Louis Andral. One of his leads was Plensa, as Andral was familiar with his monumental work in several metropolises throughout the world. The artist was …
Wall Drawing 1238, Whirls and Twirls
The curvilinear forms as complements to the undulating landscape, while the vivid colors provided a bold contrast with the gray tones of the interior lobby. “Whirls and Twirls” is an example of LeWitt’s highly saturated colorful later works made in acrylic. While the forms are curvilinear, playful and seem almost random, they are drawn according to an exacting set of …
Untitled (Three Dancing Figures, version C)
Created in primary colors, Untitled (Three Dancing Figures, Version C) is a “tribute to Keith Haring’s love of music and club culture of the 1980s,” said Gilbert Vicario, who is currently Chief Curator of the Phoenix Art Museum. He went on to say: “The imposing sculpture, although very different from the ephemeral, quickly rendered wall murals that he is known for, celebrates …
Ancient Forest
Ancient Forest was commissioned by John and Mary Pappajohn for the Sculpture Park. Deborah Butterfield uses found materials and assembles them into horse-shaped sculptures that vary in size and media, although most often are comprised of wood.This particular sculpture, at first glance, appears to be composed of bundles of logs and tree-branches (an appearance that conforms to her preference for found materials). However, …
Circle of Life
The belgian-born, Iowa-based artist Hilde DeBruyne’s abstract sculpture, Circle of Life, symbolizes life’s winding march. It’s dimensions are 11 x 4 x 4 feet.
Untitled Sculpture
The late Cleda and Ray Townsend, founder of Townsend Engineering Company of Des Moines, authorized the production of the sculpture for the Park Fleur Condominiums. The condominiums were built in 1967 and established as a private company in 1977. Townsend’s son Ted explained: “We commissioned those pieces from a local junior high school art teacher named Peter Marasco.” The monumental …
Iowa Workers Monument
Iowa is the 38th state to create a monument to its workers. The bronze sculpture represents four interlocking arms and hands, dedicated to the energy and integrity of the Workers of Iowa. It is constructed of welded bronze strips, supported by a stainless steel pipe interior armature. A reinforced concrete base for support was cast in place and covered with …
Untitled Relief with Covered Wagon
Above the low relief of a covered wagon crossing a prairie it reads: “Ashworth Park. The gift of Charles and James T. Ashworth to the people of Des Moines – December 4, 1924. Overland from New Hampshire they came in 1851. Here on the neighboring prairies respected and loved they lived to witness the transformation of a primitive land into …
The Puzzle of Life
The Puzzle of Life is a large-scale mural painted on the west exterior wall of PACE Juvenile Center. The artist Barri Lester lead the design and fabrication process with the assistance of students from PACE. This public art project was inspired by participating young people, ages 12-17, of this alternative school, who had experienced problems with school or the law. The …
Three Cairns
“Three Cairns” is the largest project in the Western Hemisphere by British artist Andy Goldsworthy. Cairns are stone structures [or markers] that identify a place of great importance. Their dry-stone construction represents an engineering feat as well as artistic creativity. The process of shaping and stacking the stones into a simple oval shape is challenging and intense. The form symbolizes …
Juno
Like “Juno,” all Butterfield’s full-sized horses each have their own names and personalities. They are often described as being distant, reflective, inviting; mystical, spiritual, intangible; playful, peaceful, graceful. They are never associated with people, with riders, and are often portrayed as if they were unaware of a human’s presence. Deborah Butterfield’s casting process: Butterfield assembles the original by fastening logs, …
Panoramic awareness pavilion
October 2023: Currently not on view. Panoramic awareness pavilion (2013), was commissioned for the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park in Des Moines, Iowa. It is at once a large-scale light sculpture, which demands distance for proper appreciation, and a pavilion, which invites its audience to enter, explore, and engage with the work from within the structure. The circular work …
The Birth Place of Des Moines
The porcelain tile mural, 34 feet by 4 feet, is a pictorial timeline of the history of Des Moines and marks the area’s first non-Native American settlement of 1843. The mural is built into the brick wall near a 1840s log cabin on the west bank of the Des Moines River, north of its confluence with the Raccoon River−the birthplace …
Des Moines Color Field
The installation is composed of 190 repurposed glass domes from front-loading washing machines that are internally lit with colored programmable LED lights. These lights can be played in a computer sequence that produces an infinite patterns and rainbow-color combinations. The artwork was executed for the Davis Brown Tower by an artist who goes only by the name, STRETCH.
Column of Change
Column of Change is a bronze bas-relief with numerous abstracted human figures moving across the piece. The figures more in an upward direction, represent the overcoming of obstacles and setbacks.
The Theater
The dimensions of The Theatre is 10 x 28 x 14 feet.
Until the Woods Began to Move
This public art project by Anna Gaskell, a site specific project at the Iowa Events Center, was approved by the Polk County Board of Supervisors in 2005. The work of art, called “Until the Woods Began to Move”, is composed of a hedge maze and video; the artist’s statement is incorporated into the site. Gaskell’s art is intensely psychological. She’s …
Seating for Eight and Café Table 1
As a locus for explorations of both form and function, chairs occupy a position of singular importance. The works presented here attest to his passion for combining fine art and practical design and, in the process, opening up the scope of inquiry in both disciplines. The natural shapes of these chairs, and their beautiful surface—variously rough and smooth—inject aesthetic pleasure …
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