Visual Art

Eaux Art Finds New Home

Eau Claire to snag more art from Eaux Claires fest

Max Martinson |

“Source” by Erlend Neumann
“Source” by Erlend Neumann (Photo: Lee Butterworth)

The Eaux Claires Music & Arts Festival will live on in the Eau Claire community through a couple of its art installations, which will soon be on display as public art. The two works in question are Erlend Nuemann’s “Source” and Kelie Bowman’s “Crescent Field.” Unlike many of the other installments at Eaux Claires, the two pieces will avoid storage and remain alive in public spaces. “Source,” which is a complex wooden upreaching structure, will remain on the festival grounds in the town of Union meaning it will be on display during the upcoming Country Jam in July, and next year’s Blue Ox Music Festival. “Crescent Field,” which portrays multiple shifting landscapes at once, can be likened to a kaleidoscope of horizons. This piece will be housed in the Visit Eau Claire visitor’s center, which will be a part of the Confluence Arts Center when it opens in 2018. These public installations are part of a push to expand the Eaux Claires festival out toward the Eau Claire community. As you might recall, an installation from last year’s festival has already been stationed along the Chippewa River in the West Grand Avenue Business Improvement District of Eau Claire as well – “Baroque,” a beautiful wire structure, which housed a pipe organ during the second Eaux Claires festival, now lives along the Chippewa river near the Grand Avenue footbridge. These installations and the many efforts to display art in the community, including the new Public Arts Commission, are an uplifting reminder that Eau Claire is becoming more and more willing and enthusiastic about supporting the arts at every turn. 

“Crescent Field” by Kelie Bowman
“Crescent Field” by Kelie Bowman