Downtown Sculpture Exhibit

The Office of Downtown Development is proud to announce the opening of the sixth edition of the Downtown Sculpture Exhibition. This walking sculpture tour includes five rotating pieces that will be on display through May of 2028. This initiative enhances the city’s downtown mission to make the arts more accessible to the community by providing opportunities for residents, students, and visitors to view art in a meaningful and dynamic way.

This edition of the Downtown Sculpture Exhibition, will take visitors around the downtown area to view Abduction (southeast corner of E. Calhoun St. and Campbell St.), 20 Years Later: What Happened Here? (Thomas C. Carper Amtrak Station), Foos (Macomb City Center), Red Guitar (345 N. Lafayette St.), and Blast Off (Macomb Public Library).

This effort is in collaboration with the Western Illinois University Performing Arts Society which provided funding to display new sculptures Blast Off and 20 Years Later: What Happened Here.

All items included in the rotating exhibit are for sale by the owning artists. More information about each of the pieces can be found in printed brochures available throughout Macomb at Gelsosomo’s Pizza, REMAX, Community News Brief, Macomb Area Chamber of Commerce, Thomas C. Carper Train Station, and City Hall.

Abduction

Artist: Ron Gard

Contact the Downtown Dev. Office for pricing details -309-575 3015

Gard created this sculpture by harnessing his emotions and sympathy for a family in a custody tragedy. (Location: SE corner of E Calhoun St and S Campbell St)

A red abstract bird sculpture stands on a white pedestal outdoors, with green trees and a building visible in the background. A plaque is mounted on the pedestal.

20 Years Later: What Happened Here

Artist: Stacia Iverson

Contact: iv******@*ni.edu

Price of piece $ 7.5 k

Iverson describes this sculpture as “a piece created to reward curiosity and discovery” where the viewer will discover a detailed and complex scene, hidden inside the sculpture. (Location: Macomb Amtrak Station)

A tall, metallic sculpture with a wavy, cut-out section stands on a city sidewalk. In the background, cars drive by, trees line the street, and an American flag waves in the blue sky.

Foos

Artist: Duke Oursler

Contact: du*********@***il.com

Price of piece $ 5 k

By isolating a single foosball player from its rigid team structure, Oursler transforms a functional game piece into a striking abstract metaphor for individuality and social dynamics. (Location: Macomb City Center)

A shiny, abstract metal sculpture sits on a white concrete pedestal outdoors, surrounded by grass, trees, and sidewalks. A plaque on the pedestal displays the artist’s name and the sculpture’s title.

Red Guitar

Artist: Carl Billingsley

Contact the Downtown Dev. Office for pricing details -309-575 3015

Made of recycled steel, this sculpture was assembled as a composition of triangular and circular shapes and was later named for the figure it resembled. (Location: 345 N Lafayette St)

A modern outdoor sculpture with a red triangular base and a black circular frame topped by a wire ladder, displayed on a concrete platform with a plaque, set on grass with buildings and trees in the background.

Blast Off

Artist: Howard Russo

Price of piece $ 4.2 k

hr****@*********************in.edu

Mixing his fascination with rockets and spherical UFO type objects, Russo built this historically relevant sculpture to give viewers two unique experiences during the day or by solar light at night. (Location: Macomb Public Library)