Downtown Cape sculpture exhibit unveiled

Several pieces of public artwork, including one by Cape Girardeau native Ben Pierce, were unveiled Thursday evening at the Vasterling Suites Courtyard as part of the annual Cape Girardeau Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit.

Artists are chosen each year based on their background, skill level and concept or proposal, with applicants from all over the United States.

Seven artists were selected this year from Oklahoma, Illinois, Minnesota, Georgia and Indiana, with Pierce's artwork "UNsure" as one of the chosen seven to be displayed in downtown Cape Girardeau.

Pierce said numerous artists in Cape submitted artwork and he is "very proud to be the one chosen" to represent the local art community, wishing only that more had been chosen.

"There were a bunch of different states represented, and that also elevates a show," Pierce said. "When you're able to say, 'We have seven pieces and they're from six different states,' that's kind of a big deal."

Pierce has been an artist for eight years -- full-time for the last two and a half -- and said he's had artwork featured in South Dakota, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana and Mississippi. He "just picked up" a piece in Atlanta, Georgia.

"Currently, I have piece in downtown Chicago, and I'm taking two more up this year," Pierce said.

Chris Wubbena, a professor of sculpture at Southeast Missouri State University, introduced this year's juror, Glenn Williams, who is originally from St. Louis and associate professor of art and head of the sculpture program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

"There are certain kinds of people where you haven't seen them in 20 years, but when you do, it just picks right back up and there was never any time in between," Wubbena said. "Glenn is that kind of person for me."

Williams thanked the artists who submitted work for consideration and emphasized how "impressive" the select group of submissions was.

"And if you didn't get in, it wasn't because of the quality of the work," Williams said. "It's just that there weren't enough spaces to put everything in."

The Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit on Broadway hopes to achieve two main goals, according to a news release: increasing the number of arts-related activities within the region and providing an additional revitalization strategy for Old Town Cape Inc.

"This is a wonderful exhibition and is unique to the Southeast Missouri Region," Sara Steffens, director of the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, stated in the release. "This exhibition is our fifth one to date, and it evolves with each year."

Steffens also said she is "delighted to see how well received the sculptures have been in our community."

"I think the residents and business owners in our community will really appreciate the difference in the kind of sculptures that were chosen this year by our juror," Steffens said.

Funding for the exhibit was provided by City of Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department, the National Endowment for the Arts and Old Town Cape Inc.

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