Prominent sculpture added to roundabout near River Campus

Two jagged and angled steel pieces now stand in Cape Girardeau's Fountain Street roundabout, the newest sculpture to grace the city's landscape.

Parks and recreation staff, with the aid of construction equipment, on Monday slowly and carefully moved the two 14-foot-tall pieces that comprise the sculpture into place on two concrete pads.

Southeast Missouri State University art professor Chris Wubbena designed the sculpture and supervised its installation.

Five of the six current and former university students who worked on the sculpture watched it being erected in the roundabout.

Mayor Harry Rediger, who championed the project, stopped by to view the shining steel sculpture.

Chris Wubbena cuts an eyelet off his sculpture, "Commence," that was used Monday to help install the two-piece, 14-foot sculpture in the Fountain Street roundabout near the River Campus in Cape Girardeau.Laura Simon

"I love it," Rediger said.

He said the sculpture, titled "Commence," is meant to be welcoming to the public.

"The other thing it is kind of telling me is we are reaching for the skies. We are coming together," Rediger said.

Although some people criticized the project when it first was announced more than a year ago, Rediger said he views the permanent sculpture as "uplifting."

Wubbena said he enjoyed seeing the components come together. As an artist, Wubbena said he views each creation as "kind of like a child. You teach it things and try to shape it."

The sculpture stands near the university's River Campus arts school.

Wubbena said he appreciated the students' work on the project.

"They built this thing," he said.

He said student involvement was "the most important thing."

He said he also appreciated the city's participation in the project.

The city and the university split the cost. The sculpture project was estimated last year to cost $64,000.

City finance director John Richbourg said the city is paying for the project upfront, and the university subsequently will reimburse the city for half of the cost.

As of Monday, the city has spent $70,523 on the project, which includes the sculpture and costs associated with engineering and construction of the concrete base and lighting, Richbourg said.

Parks staff still have to install the lights and add soil. University agriculture students then will landscape the roundabout, said Brock Davis, parks division manager.

Davis said the goal is to have the roundabout project finished before the Aug. 21 full solar eclipse.

Under the agreement with the university approved by the City Council in April 2016, the city will be responsible for maintenance of the roundabout.

Wubbena said the sculpture took about 10 weeks to create.

Brigit Ciskowski said she and the other students worked about five hours a day. Much of the work involved grinding the steel.

"We all took turns," she said.

Fellow artist Deanna Hoffman said the grinding is "kind of like the grunt work."

The sculpture was fabricated in pieces at Serena Hall on the main campus and later moved to a warehouse near River Campus, where the various parts were assembled.

"All of this is fabricated," said Jessica Lambert, who worked on the project. She said the steel had to be cut and welded together to form the shapes.

Fellow sculptor Terry Davis said the hardest part was "making sure everything lined up."

Ciskowski said the hard part was ensuring the weight was distributed evenly.

Each of the two sections weighs about 2,000 pounds, Wubbena said.

Two smaller sections or wedges at the base of the sculpture have a bronze hue. Wubbena said the color was achieved by exposing the steel to 930-degree heat at a facility at the University of Northern Iowa, his alma mater.

Sweating in the hot sun after the sculpture was erected, a smiling Wubbena said, "I like the piece."

mbliss@semissourian.com

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