LOUISVILLE — Most displays of public art appear suddenly on a street corner or inside a municipal building — in the form of a sculpture or painting — with little input from the citizenry.
Not here.
From now until Oct. 31, the residents of this city will get the chance to vote online for their favorite sculpture of four that are on loan through May.
The winning piece of art gets to stay while the other three will be sold to an interested buyer or returned to the artist.
“We have the community decide what they want to own, and then we fundraise to buy it,” said Maryan Jaross, chairwoman of the Louisville Art in the Park project.
The four competing artists get $500 each; the winner receives an additional $500.
Maureen Hearty, a Denver artist who assembled “The Climb,” one of the contenders, out of scrap steel, lauded Louisville’s democratic approach.
“I think that’s a way to make public art truly represent the community,” she said.
Residents can vote for their favorite sculpture through the city’s website, .
