Tim Rohwer
Staff Writer The Daily Nonpareil

The Molecule Man is here and, at 50-feet tall, he’s going to be hard to ignore.

The $1.8 million aluminum sculpture depicting three 50-foot-tall interconnected human-like figures, is the latest public art addition to Council Bluffs, sponsored by the Iowa West Foundation. The sculpture arrived at the Mid-America Center by truck from Los Angeles Wednesday morning in many pieces that will have to be welded together over the next two weeks or so, said Todd Graham, Iowa West executive director.

“It will be a beacon that will draw visitors to the Mid-America Center and Council Bluffs,” he said. “We intend to illuminate it to be quite dramatic.”

The Molecule Man’s home will be south of the MAC near Famous Dave’s restaurant and
easily visible from Interstate 29/80. It was created by internationally known artist, Jonathan Borofsky. The three human figures connecting in the center will weigh 33,000
pounds when it’s finally installed and there are only two other sculptures like it in the world, in Los Angeles and Berlin,Germany, Graham said.

“Whether the city is large or small, the pleasure for me is the same,” Borofsky said in a
statement released through a local public relations office. “I enjoy creating symbols about
our shared humanity and then placing them in public settings where they become part of people’s everyday life.”

Borofsky plans to come to Council Bluffs to oversee the installation next week, said Loretta Carroll. A specially trained installation team arrived with the sculpture pieces to do the work, she said. Upon completion, an estimated 12,000 man-hours would have gone into the project, Carroll said.

The large-scale project has been customized to withstand local weather conditions. Borofsky chose a metal known for its strength – aluminum plate more than two inches thick. In fact, it’s the type of aluminum used to build aircraft, Carroll said. It will be able to withstand straight-line winds of 100 miles per hour.

Besides the sheer size of the sculpture, another noticeable feature will be the 1,200 holes
cut out in the aluminum.These holes represent molecules, Graham said.

“All living things are made up of molecules so they’re all in common,” he said.

There’s other public art being installed at the MAC, Graham said. On the very south end of the center near the Convention Center entrance, workers are installing a sculpture garden that will feature 21 structures, including three large bronzes heads and two walls with ceramic tiles.

“It’s over 400 feet long, longer than a football field,” Graham said.

The ordinary concrete walking plaza in front of this project will be paved in black and white granite, he added. Omaha-based artist Jun Kaneko is the creator of this project, and it’s his largest yet among the many projects he’s done worldwide, Graham said.

It all began with public art in the renovated Bayliss Park, then followed by the three rabbit
head statues in Haymarket Square and various metal sculptures around the MAC area. The first project in the next phase will be four large sculptures on the South 24th Street bridge over I-29/80, he said. Iowa West is also considering whether it will be feasible to install art upon completion of a new Broadway viaduct, Graham said.

There have been public comments about these projects, he said.

“Overall it’s been positive,” Graham said.