SIOUX FALLS, S.D.-
Sculptor Gary Monaco had few expectations when he placed his life-size bison on a downtown Sioux Falls sidewalk as part of a year-round public art exhibit.
The metal buffalo had bounced around two or three cities in Monaco’s home state, Colorado, so the artist was ecstatic when a Sioux Falls developer bought “Cherapa” with plans to make it the centerpiece of a business complex that will bear his creation’s name.
A bonus came when an interior designer strolling by Monaco’s statue hired him to create a three-dimensional metal mural for Sioux Valley Hospital’s new surgical tower.
“She contacted me and I wound up with a $25,000 commission,” Monaco said.
Outdoor sculpture might be more of a staple in Athens or Rome, but it is taking off in some of America’s smaller towns as a way to revitalize downtown communities.
“I think that’s the phenomenon of these is that they are coming out and surviving in these small towns,” said Nancy DeCamillis, publisher of Sculptural Pursuit magazine.
DeCamillis said public art displays provide a great opportunity for artists to promote and sell their work, and because the sculptures typically sit out for a year, more people see them.
“Art shows and fairs can give artists exposure to thousands of people in a weekend, but they’re challenging for sculptors who craft works larger than tabletop items,” she said.
SculptureWalk Sioux Falls, now in its third year, exhibits 50 items along a pedestrian-heavy downtown street. Director Jim Clark said 38 percent of the sculptures have sold during the past two years, “and the artists get commissioned works because of their visibility, which is just as good or better.”
Clark said the show has become a favorite of artists by offering $24,000 in prizes and covering some of the expenses of setup and travel. Each station is sponsored by a local company, so the organization can showcase each work on a quartzite pedestal adorned with a plaque.
A new set of 50 moves in each year, but many of the sculptures find a find permanent home in Sioux Falls as they’re bought by businesses or organizations and donated to the city. In what is becoming a SculptureWalk tradition, the first two winners of the People’s Choice award have been bought, donated and moved to a burgeoning sculpture garden at the entrance to Falls Park, which features the waterfall for which the city of 141,000 is named.
Artist Susan Geissler has two polychrome bronze sculptures in this year’s SculptureWalk Sioux Falls. “Morning Spirits” is a red-robe clad cardinal enjoying a cup of tea, and the “The Potato Man” is a white-bearded gentleman holding a walking stick and a bucket of potatoes.
Geissler likes the exposure and prizes that sculpture-on-loan programs offer, but they also help bring the craft to more people.
“You meet these wonderful people who are interested in the arts and want to educate the public on the arts, and it’s happening,” she said.
Sioux Falls got the idea from Grand Junction, Colo., which began its yearlong outdoor sculpture exhibit in 1984.
“Art on the Corner” was the brainchild of local artists looking to boost business after the oil shale bust of 1982 devastated western Colorado’s economy. It now features about 100 sculptures, predominantly on a five-block area of Main Street. About 70 of the sculptures are permanent, with 30 or so new pieces featured each year, said Harold Stalf, executive director of the Downtown Development Authority.
Hundreds of cities across the United States have followed with similar projects, Stalf said. “It seems to be a winning concept and a lot of communities have adopted it,” he said.
Stalf said the sculptures draw people downtown, and those visitors stay in the area to shop, eat and play.
“I think that’s a real magnet to bring people in, and, of course, they’re then tempted into our shops and restaurants, night clubs, things like that,” he said.
A similar concept yet to catch on in the United States is the sculpture symposium, which is bringing public art to such unlikely locales as remote villages of Chile, DeCamillis said. A symposium involves a business sponsor bringing in artists by paying for supplies and sometimes travel, and giving each sculptor two weeks to a month to finish a sizable statue.
“Then these are left in the community, and the community suddenly has a sculpture garden or a sculpture walk,” she said.
DeCamillis said the symposium was inspiring, as artists seldom get to enjoy the exchange and dialogue with other talented people.
“Typically, you work pretty isolated,” she said. “You’re in your studio and you’ve got all this paraphernalia on and noise that kills your ears.”
DeCamillis, who specializes in stone carving, spent two weeks in April with a group of artists carving on the beach of Puntarenas, Costa Rica. The finished pieces were then moved to a highly traveled street.
“They have 18 pieces lining their tourist boulevard where the cruise ships come in,” she said.
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