By Dane Stickney
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs is looking more and more like an outdoor art  gallery.

Workers are installing 21 artworks by Omaha ceramist Jun Kaneko in a 400-foot-long sculpture garden near the main entrances on the south side of the arena. 

Installation of 16 ceramic pods (which Kaneko calls dangos), two tile-covered walls and three bronze heads should be finished within a month, said Todd Graham, executive director and CEO of the Iowa West Foundation. An elaborately patterned granite
walkway will also be completed.

The installation of Kaneko’s art marks the end of the first phase of public art placement in
Council Bluffs. The Iowa West Foundation has spent nearly $9 million for sculpture projects in downtown Council Bluffs and at the Mid-America Center. The foundation plans more artwork near the 24th Street bridge over Interstate 80 and on the riverfront
near the newly opened Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. 

Kaneko’s sculptures are the third major installation on the Mid-America Center’s campus.
Previously placed work includes three sculptures by New York artist William King and the September installation of Maine-based artist Jonathan Borofsky’s “Molecule Man” sculpture.

The foundation selected internationally known artists familiar with working on large-scale
sculptures. The fact that Kaneko has regional ties is an added bonus,Graham said.

“His work really creates a welcoming, visually interesting entryway for the Mid-America
Center,” Graham said. “It’s an impressive collection of artwork.”

The sculpture garden represents the largest single installation of Kaneko’s work to date,
Graham said. The cost for the garden is roughly $2.8 million.

As of Wednesday afternoon, crews had installed 10 ceramic columns and four triangular
sculptures, using forklifts to hoist Kaneko’s heavy creations onto stone bases. Workers were applying tiles to large concrete walls and soon will begin laying granite in an intricate black-and-white pattern that Kaneko designed. Granite benches weighing as much as a ton each also are planned.

Three massive bronze heads—probably to be placed near the arena’s west entrance next week— will highlight the installation, Graham said.

“They’re spectacular,” Graham said. “They could really be landmarks for the area.”

Reproduced with permission from the Omaha World-Herald