Sculpting a new image

Iowa West initiative aims to energize, redefine Bluffs

By Chris Christen

World-Herald Staff Writer

Council Bluffs, visually interesting?

Five years ago, locals and visitors probably would have chuckled at the suggestion.

Today, nobody’s laughing.

A $9 million public art initiative launched by the Iowa West Foundation is transforming the face of the community. And winning outsider praise as “visionary,’’ “progressive’’ and “energizing.’’

“Council Bluffs is undergoing a renaissance,’’ says Lynette Pohlman, director and chief curator of Iowa State University Museums in Ames. “Art is a way to inspire a community
to become something else, and Council Bluffs has a good vision of what it might be.’’

Pohlman, a widely respected art authority, drew that conclusion in visits to the Bluffs as a
member of the art selection panel.

ToddGraham, executive director of the philanthropic Iowa West Foundation, defines the initiative as a way to enhance the Bluffs aesthetically and economically while creating a
greater sense of place for its 65,000 residents.

“We’re looking at public art and public spaces as an opportunity to re-establish an identity for our community,’’Graham said.

A steering committee representing Iowa West and the City of Council Bluffs issued a master plan in 2004 identifying six strategic areas of concentration for significant art installations. A half-dozen works are in place downtown and in the vicinity of the Mid-America Center on One Arena Way.

“We are being carefu land deliberate in developing projects,” Graham said. The master
plan reaches to 2015. “But I don’t know that we’ll stop there,” he said. “We have 50 other
possibilities for public art installations” in what Graham described as a “plan to turn the entire city into a sculpture garden.’

The first installations included “Molecule Man” by Jonathan Borofsky and “Sunrise” by
William King at the convention center and arena, and Brower Hatcher’s stainless steel
“Wellspring” fountain and “Oculus” pavilion in revitalized Bayliss Park downtown.

This summer, Omaha-based ceramist Jun Kaneko will unveil the largest single installation of his work to date—a 400-foot-long sculpture garden—near the MAC’s south entrance. The garden will feature Kaneko’s signature dangos, tile-covered walls and giant bronze heads on a dramatic black-and-white granite walkway.

By autumn 2010, a gateway installation by Albert Paley will captivate Interstate travelers
along the 24th Street Bridge southeast of the arena.

Playland Park,on the riverfront near the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge, also is targeted for public art. The vision is for a mixed-use area incorporating green space, residential housing and recreation. “But what the site turns out to be has yet to be defined ”because of levee restrictions, Graham said. Still, infrastructure construction could begin in late spring with major development well underway within three years.

The image for West Broadway, a gateway to the city from Omaha, includes a new viaduct
that incorporates art into its structural design. Conceptual renderings could be made public within three months, Graham said.“The bridge will be the art. It will be that integrated.”

“Art has a proven impact on community and economic development,’’ said art consultant
GeorgeNeubert, director of the Flatwater Art Foundation in historic Brownville, Neb. “Just
look at Seattle. Public art has been instrumental in the redevelopment of its downtown. The impact has been extraordinary.’’

When a company seeks to relocate, it looks at what a city and area provide during the
non-work hours, Neubert said. Arts and culture, recreation, sporting events,dining and
shopping opportunities are important considerations.

“When we redeveloped the downtown,we considered how Bayliss Park might be used in
the future,’’ said Mayor Tom Hanafan.

Hatcher’s sculptures, he said, already have altered the dynamic of the neighborhood in a
positive way. Downtown has attractive bookends with the Hatcher sculptures at Bayliss
and Debbie Masuoka’s whimsical rabbit heads in theHaymarket district.

Bluffs resident Marie Knedler loves revitalized Bayliss Park because it invites assembly
and conversation. “And that’s healthy for a community,” said Knedler, who is vice president and chief operating officer for Alegent Health Mercy. Social aspects aside, art also has a healing quality. People can be drawn to an art piece just for the way it makes them feel, she said. “Art can be a great stress reliever.”

Increased foot traffic is a goal for the Mid-America Center plaza. An estimated 13 million
people visit the entertainment area each year. “Yet, we don’t see many pedestrians in the vicinity,” said Iowa West’s Graham. “We hope to change that and spur interest in filling the retail bays at the MAC.’’

Having spent more than 20 years in community development and fundraising in Seattle
and Cleveland, Graham said he “knew enough to be scared” about selecting and placing public art without input from the city, the community and art experts like Pohlman and Neubert.

National art circles have taken note of the Iowa West project for its size, scope and focus.
Neubert credits the art master plan, describing it as a “critical tool” for any community contemplating a similar initiative.The art selection committee had a specific mission and the artists had an opportunity to be involved in developing the sites for their installations.

“They wanted something that would transform the community and I took that seriously,”
said Hatcher, creator of “Wellspring” and “Oculus” in Bayliss Park. “My goal was to create a work which ultimately was a people magnet.”

“Wellspring,” he said, is designed to be engaging year-round.“ The water makes the piece ‘showy’ but the fountain doesn’t have to be working to be enjoyed.’ ”

“Oculus,” the performance pavilion, was approached from the same perspective.

The Bayliss Park enhancements, the artist said, are bound to energize downtown Council Bluffs.“ The next thing you know, storefronts will be improved and restaurants will come in. It’s self-affirming for the community to see the progress.”

Not to mention what it does for the artist. “I would like to say that I had a part in planting
that energy field and changing the community for the better,’’ Hatcher said.