Well like most peeps who think they have a handle on public art in Sioux Falls, (the SculptureWalk ‘founders’ come to mind) our’s had this to say;
For example, Quanbeck Etten assumes the Helen McKennan and Edwin Sherman busts were given by founders of the city more than a century ago.
Huh? McKennan was just placed a few years ago by an artist who is alive and well, Martin Wanerski. As for the Sherman bust, it was created by J.K. Daniels;
John Karl Daniels (1875 – 1978)
Iowa State Fair Sculptor 1911 – 1912
Born in Norway, John Karl Daniels immigrated to the United States with his family when he was 9. He grew up in St. Paul and trained there in several art schools and with two different sculptors before setting up his own studio. He worked in stone, wood, and bronze. In the early 1900s Daniels started doing butter sculptures to make extra money. Daniels also created sculptures for the Minnesota State Fair. Several stone and marble sculptures of Daniels’ are on public display throughout the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Scares me a bit that the one that is in charge of curating our public art has done very little research. Wouldn’t the manager of Central Services have access to ‘the googles’?
I also had to chuckle, snort, and cry when I heard we needed an ‘iconic’ piece of art on the river. We have one already, a priceless cast of the Statue of David gifted to us by famous inventor Thomas Fawick in the early 70’s. Tom’s greatest inventions were the tractor clutch and the disc brake, but who is paying attention? If it was up to me, I would ditch the ‘arc of dreams’ concept, and place David at Falls Park in front of the tower overlooking the falls, let’s make it a true tourist attraction. Not sure people are interested in visiting places that make balloons and sell insurance.
Iconic art on the river should be gold plated. Gold doesn’t decay from the toxic river environment. It commemorates our credit card mayor. We can always remember when the city could borrow. It’ll be tough finding money for infrastructure in the future once bond payments are missed. Enjoy these times of less vitamin D. Sioux Falls residents should enjoy full time indoor tennis & swimming. Like vampires, after dark we can temporarily enjoy indoor entertainment at the Pavilion or EC. Eventually, there will be no funds for maintainance or utilities. Fortunately, there’s no property tax on these follies and we’ll take the county down with us.