By Beth Anderson, Staff Writer
06/05/2004
Updated 06/14/2005 11:21:52 AM CDT
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Ames dedicates 'Circle of Art'
Creativity has come to Ames, and she is wearing clothes.
The long awaited "Ames Circle of Art" was dedicated Friday in Bandshell Park with the centerpiece female figure, an allegorical depiction of "Creativity," draped in a wide and well-placed ribbon.
That's not how the bronze figure was originally designed by Rhode Island artist Bill Culbertson. And that's not the design that the Ames Public Art Commission originally approved.
But when a model of the design was presented to the public in 2001, the neighbors thought otherwise, and the media responded with articles, editorials and TV news footage, Culbertson recalled.
"It was no longer called 'Circle of Art,'" the artist said. "It was called 'The Nude Sculpture in Bandshell Park.'"
Culbertson - whose "Circle of Art" was chosen by the city out of more than 150 entrants in a 1999 international design contest - wasn't looking to make a statement in 2001, and was willing to clothe the woman, he told The Tribune at the time.
But the final decision was made at the foundry, he said, when he discovered that bringing the figure's arms closer to her body and draping her with the ribbon gave the sculpture more strength to withstand the test of time.
"A few years of kids hanging on her arm and it would have snapped off," Culbertson said.
The piece is meant to be climbed on, Culbertson said. It's meant for moms pushing strollers, poets writing in their journals and little boys running cars across the figure's toes.
It's a landmark art piece to be enjoyed for the next 200 years.
"I want my kids to bring their kids out to see it," the artist said. "We'll all be planning vacations to Iowa."
Culbertson understands the unique involvement of children and art. He was the sculpture director for Hasbro, and samples of his art, featuring Disney and Sesame Street characters, can be found in most toy boxes.
His current commission is a two-foot tall figure of Goofy, which will be used at a Disney theme park.
That's the art that pays the bills.
But it is the public art - carved columns in Garland, Texas; a clock tower in Tampa, Fla.; an impressionistic piece in China - that feeds his soul.
"It's a little like having a child," he said. "You go through the pregnancy with all its suffering and hardship, but then the child is born and you forget all about it."
The "Ames Circle of Art" is his newest offspring, and he is thrilled.
"I e-mailed all my friends and told them to look at the Web site," he said.
Like all of his fine art works, the birth of the Ames piece has not been easy. And it has certainly lasted more than nine months.
Culbertson's original contract with the city called for completion on March 31, 2002. But between Ames City Council votes, committee disagreements, engineering problems and the slow pace of sub-contractors, he asked for and received three time extensions.
City council member Russ Cross was one who voted against the project in 2001, but Cross later recalled his vote to allow the landmark piece to move ahead.
He is pleased with the final piece, he said.
"I'm impressed with the quality of the piece," he said. "I had been concerned that it didn't fit the park, but having seen it, I think it's a nice piece of art in an appropriate location."
Whether the figure was clothed or not had never been an issue for him, Cross said.
The "Ames Circle of Art" can be seen on the artist's Web site at www.whooplah.com.
Staff writer Beth Anderson can be reached at 232-2161, Ext. 353,
or at banderson@amestrib.com
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