New sculptures unveiled along Broadway in Cape Girardeau

Editor's note: This story has been edited to clarify costs associated with the project. A reported figure was the cost for artists and installation, but there are other associated costs with the sculptures, arts council director Sara Moore said. She declined to disclose the other costs. Also, the number of years the project has been in existence was originally incorrect due to a source error.

They came to celebrate the new artwork that graced Broadway.

More than 60 people, including sculptors and civic leaders, turned out for the official opening of the Cape Girardeau Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit on Thursday.

Speaking at a breezy reception at the Vasterling Suites Courtyard along Broadway, Mayor Harry Rediger spoke about the importance of the annual exhibit to the community.

"I am so far from an artist. I can't even draw my face, but I know what art does," he said. "I know what art does for a community and for a people."

Richard Herzog's sculpture "Urban Forest" is seen on Thursday evening in Cape Girardeau.Laura Simon

Rediger told the crowd, "We grow new businesses. We grow the arts. We grow downtown. We do it together."

Rediger said Southeast Missouri State University sculptor professor Chris Wubbena has served as the catalyst for the annual exhibit.

This is the fifth year for the outdoor exhibit.

There are seven streetside sculptures in this year's display, extending along Broadway from Main to Pacific streets. They were chosen from among 35 entries.

"Public art occupies a unique position in the art world," said Sara Moore, director of the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri.

LAURA SIMON ~ lsimon@semissourian.com Traffic flows along along Broadway past James Johnson's sculpture, The Seeker on Thursday evening, April 6, 2017, in Cape Girardeau.

She said it is accessible to everyone. "There are no tickets. People don't have to dress up."

Award-winning sculptor Jennifer Torres of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, juried the exhibit with input from the city's public-art committee.

Wubbena, who serves on that committee, said Torres has "juried a very dynamic, vibrant, colorful exhibition that is very different from the other shows that we have had up until now."

Wubbena added, "That is what is so great about this show. It changes every year."

In selecting the sculptures, Torres said she looks at what appeals to her, but also factors in where the pieces will be displayed.

"It is not just picking quality works," she said.

Torres said she is attracted to sculptures that have "a lot of color and dynamics," like her own artwork. "The colors and shapes were the things I was looking for," she said.

"You want to have a good variety" she added.

Torres said "art in a community, builds a community."

She said she loves to visit towns with vibrant arts.

"People like me look for communities that respect the arts and will show the arts," she said.

Torres said she likes to take "extra time to stroll through town" and see the artwork.

"You have a really, really special thing here," she said. "I think this is wonderful."

Six of the seven sculptors attended the reception. They were Andrew Arvanetes of DeKalb, Illinois; Jeff Boshart and James Johnson, both of Charleston, Illinois; Richard Herzog of Athens, Georgia; Tommy Riefe of St. Louis; and Jillian Springer of Murphysboro, Illinois. Sculptor Carl Billingsley of Ayden, North Carolina, was not in attendance.

Payments to the artists as well as installation cost $7,000. Each of the chosen sculptors received a $1,000 honorarium to cover transportation, installation and later de-installation of their sculptures. The sculptures will remain in place along Broadway for a year, ending in April 2018.

Moore said 50 percent of the cost is funded with a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts. The city's parks and recreation department and the Old Town Cape downtown revitalization organization provide the other half of the funding, she said.

Arvanetes, one of the sculptors, said he came up with his red, fabricated aluminum "Bird House" by "putting shapes together."

The sculpture stands at the northeast corner of Main Street and Broadway.

Arvanetes said that as he looked at the shapes in this piece, "it kind of told me it should be a bird house. It talks back to you once you start."

He added he uses "a lot of wheels and wings" in his sculptures.

Springer's "Grandiloquence" piece sits on Broadway near Frederick Street. It doesn't represent a duck or other animal, she said.

"It doesn't represent anything other than a horn or something you can speak into," Springer said. "As you can see, when you talk into it, it (the sound) comes out the back end."

The Southern Illinois artist said the piece is "supposed to be sort of humorous."

The yellow and purple piece is made to be sit upon.

"I wanted something that people could interact with," she said.

She added, "It is not just made for kids. It is adult size. Big people should be able to play with this sculpture."

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

Fountain Street and Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.