Sportsart! Look closer.

Considering the freezing temperatures and unseasonable blanket of snow covering the Chippewa Valley, perhaps it’s appropriate that the newly announced winner of the People’s Choice Award for Sculpture Tour Eau Claire portrays a winter athlete. “Going for the Goal,” by Colorado artist Dee Clements, is a bronze sculpture of a hockey-stick wielding boy whizzing along on one skate. (Presumably the puck is already sailing toward its target.) Since this year’s crop of Sculpture Tour art was installed around the city last spring, “Going for the Goal” has been displayed on South Barstow Street near its intersection with Main Street. As with previous years’ People’s Choice winners, the sculpture will be purchased and donated to the city for permanent display.

Other winners from this year’s tour, which features 32 sculptures, are as follows: The Best of Show Award goes to “Lakota Sun” by Shawn Morin from Ohio; the Best of Bronze Award is “T-Table” by Robert Gehrke from Wisconsin; the Best of Other Material is “Prairie Ship” (metal/reclaimed agrarian materials) by Greg Mueller from South Carolina; the Honorable Mention Bronze is “Boy Reading” by Eluisa Altman from New Jersey.

Sculpture Tour Eau Claire also announced a fundraising campaign to purchase another bronze sculpture, “Grand Slam,” so it can be installed at the new baseball and softball complex at Jeffers Park. (As you may have guessed, this sculpture is of a lil’ batter with a mighty swing.) To learn more, go to www.eccommunityfoundation.org, then click on “Lasting Impact” and “Sculpture Tour,” or call the foundation at (715) 552-3801.