“Hometown,” an outdoor sculpture celebrating the Daviess County Bicentennial, was unveiled in July on the north lawn of the Daviess County Courthouse on Second Street, directly across from the entrance to Riverfront Crossing. The life-size bronze features a young couple seated on a limestone bench, reviewing blueprints for a home. The sculpture is by George Lundeen, Loveland, Colo., and is sponsored for a two-year lease period by the Daviess County Bicentennial Committee, according to committee co-chairman Aloma Dew.
The Bicentennial Committee is raising money to purchase the sculpture, making it a permanent part of downtown. Those efforts received a boost when the International Bar-B-Q Festival board of directors committed to donating $5,000 toward the project, the Daviess County Fiscal Court pledged $5,000 and Daviess Judge-Executive Al Mattingly pledged a $5,000 personal contribution, Dew said.
“The sculpture has been well received by the community, and we want to keep it in Daviess County. We hope these generous donations will encourage others to support this project,” Dew said.
“Hometown,” is leased through June 2017 and is available for purchase for $40,000. With $15,000 already committed to the project, organizers feel confident they can raise the additional $25,000 needed to purchase the sculpture, Dew said.
Lundeen, a nationally-recognized sculptor, was a Fulbright-Hayes Scholar studying at the Academia de Belle Arte in Florence, Italy. He holds a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Illinois and a bachelor of arts from Hastings College in Nebraska.
The sculpture was selected from the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art’s 2014 exhibition, “RiverArtes: The Art of Placemaking,” a national competition which invited sculptors to submit proposals for public art in the riverfront development. Nine sculptures from that exhibition have been leased or purchased to date. Included is
“Harvest Dreams,” a realistically rendered bronze of a farmer and family, installed at the north entrance to Riverfront Crossing, also by Lundeen.
RIVERARTES: THE ART OF PLACEMAKING is a program designed by the art museum to place public art in the community through lease agreements which acquire sculpture for two-year periods. The project follows the national model for leased monumental outdoor sculpture installations in urban areas across the country. These projects are traditionally supported by a wide variety of sponsors, including the public, private and corporate sectors, granting agencies and foundations.
For more information on the public art project, contact the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art at 270-685-3181 or omfa.us.
For information on how you or your company can make a donation to this fundraising effort, contact David Smith, Daviess County Fiscal Court, 270-685-8424
