Visual Art

Sculpture Tour Comes to Water Street for 2013

Tom Giffey |

"Indomitable Spirit"

Public art lovers, don’t let the empty pedestals get you down: Last year’s artwork may have been packed up, but the 2013 edition of Sculpture Tour Eau Claire is on its way. In fact, by the time you read this, some of the new sculptures will already be installed throughout the city, with the rest going up on May 7. The third annual event will again pepper our public spaces with realistic, abstract, and fantastical sculptural creations.

This year’s crop of 30 sculptures includes sea turtles, a bicycle, a pig-riding tot, and something that resembles a egg-shaped cage (or perhaps a cage-shaped egg). While the blend of fine art and whimsy will be familiar from tours past, the geographic range won’t be: Because of the anticipated reconstruction of South Barstow Street this summer, the majority of sculptures will be on Water Street, with some on North Barstow Street and a few near the Mayo campus, says Sue Larson, Sculpture Tour Eau Claire board president. While sculptures will be placed on South Barstow in 2014, spreading them to other areas as well has always been part of the plan: “Once we’ve made the move to Water Street, we’re going to stay on Water Street,” she explains. Another long-term goal is to expand the number of sculptures that make the tour annually.

Larson says tour organizers hope to add three to five more sculptures each year, but “this year just wasn’t a year for growth because of the logistics challenge.” This year’s tour features work by artists from across the United States (including two Wisconsin sculptors) as well as several other countries (including one from Florence, Italy). While only three years old, the tour already has fulfilled one of its goals of boosting the amount of permanent public art in the city: Sixteen sculptures displayed on the tour have been purchased (or are in the process of being purchased) to be kept locally.