New sculptures dedicated on Broadway

Editor's note: This story has been changed to correct the direction of travel on Broadway.

On each side of Broadway as you walk or drive east from Pacific Street are seven sculptures that are part of an effort to revitalize downtown Cape.

A crowd of up to 100 people turned out on a brisk Friday evening to hear speakers and meet the artists at the opening reception of the 2014 Cape Girardeau Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition.

"We started thinking about this a few years back in Chicago, where they had cows on each corner downtown as part of an art show," Mayor Harry Rediger said before the event in the Vasterling Suites Courtyard at Broadway and Fountain Street.

"We thought, 'Why couldn't we do something like this in Cape Girardeau?'" Rediger said. "I just saw people in a couple of cars stop and take pictures. It's a great sign."

City parks and recreation director Julia Thompson said organizers wanted to keep the initial collection Midwestern in tone, but sculptures next will be solicited nationally. "We'd like to branch out," said Thompson. "It could grow down Spanish and Main to the River Campus and Capaha Park."

Estimating the turnout at 70 to 100 for drinks, snacks and art talk, Arts Council of Southeast Missouri director Murielle Gaither said it took two years to get the yearlong loan of the sculptures organized, inviting 35 artists, having the 20 works that were submitted judged and getting them installed.

Noting similar projects in Breckenridge, Colo., and Arlington, Va., were considered, Gaither said the sculptures are available for sale to businesses, corporations or individuals.

The show judge, University of Northern Iowa professor Tom Stancliffe, said he had wanted to see the murals of well-known Missourians on the Mississippi River flood wall because he had long been aware of them.

"These murals have communicated well beyond what you might expect," Stancliffe said.

Having participated in a 12:30 p.m. Friday panel discussion on "Art Beyond Gallery Walls" at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus, he said the sculptures are "a good show that will help you think about your relationship with the community you live in."

Mike Baur of West Chicago, Ill., a native of Doniphan, Mo., said his 3,500-pound concrete-and-steel work "Immigrants" was inspired by Haitians who floated ashore in Florida during the 1990s.

"We all came to America as immigrants," said Baur, whose sculpture is on the south side of Broadway between Spanish and Lorimier streets. "My family came to New Orleans in the 1800s."

His work suggests a small boat with oars capsized on a beach. "This piece in my immigrant series changed my whole way of working," Baur said. "It's one of my lighter pieces."

Dan Perry of Waterloo, Iowa, said his 400-pound steel sculpture "Quill" on the south side of Broadway between Sprigg and Frederick streets represents "the power and strength it takes to get a message through."

"Persistence is the overlying thing with the stainless steel quill going through the steel Queen Anne table with the bow tie joints," Perry said. "The table will rust with time into a reddish brown.

"Everything is a text or an email now, but it's just a different form. You have to be passionate about what you're doing."

Other works are "Home Spun" by Andy Arvanetes of Chicago on the north side of Broadway between Fountain and Lorimier streets; "Splintering," Beth Nybeck of Kansas City, Mo., north side of Broadway between Pacific and Ellis streets; "Lineage," Ben Pierce of Cape Girardeau, south side of Broadway between Middle and Fountain streets; "Nature's Quintet," Stephanie Sailer of Swisher, Iowa, north side of Broadway between Frederick and Middle streets; and "Victoria," Chris Wubbena of Jackson, south side of Broadway between Middle and Fountain streets.