Art for everyone

When RAGBRAI cyclists pedal into Newton this summer, Hilde DeBruyne’s sculpture will be one of the first things they see.

DeBruyne, a sculptor from Cumming, is excited about her new work, “Shifting Gears,” which will be on display all summer in Newton — part of the First Avenue Sculpture Project.

“The moment I heard RAGBRAI was coming to town I thought it would be a good idea to make something related to RAGBRAI. I wanted something cyclists could identify with, so that’s how it came about,” DeBruyne said.

The First Avenue Sculpture Project is the brainchild of Linda Klepinger, who’s made it her mission to increase the availability of public art in Newton. Since forming the Iowa Sculpture Festival in 2003, Klepinger has worked tirelessly to advocate for the arts — Newton’s First Avenue Sculpture Project is only one small piece.

Despite Klepinger’s efforts, she made it clear she’s had plenty of support in Newton. In a statement Klepinger wrote, “The Iowa Sculpture Festival, Centre for Arts & Artists, Greater Newton Area Chamber of Commerce, Newton Main Street, individuals and business, with the encouragement and collaboration of the City of Newton, have joined to establish the First Avenue of Sculpture and Art Program with the intent to educate, excite, and entertain the citizens and visitors of Newton, Iowa.”

“Shifting Gears” is one of six sculptures that will be placed along First Avenue this year. The Iowa Sculpture Festival has been working with artists throughout 2018 to place the artworks across Newton. Klepinger said it’s her vision to make art easily accessible to anyone.

“It’s all over Newton. It’s in neighborhoods where people might not even notice,” Klepinger said. “ A lot of people just take the same path all the time.”

With more than 100 pieces of public art on display across the town, Klepinger said Newton has become a well-known destination for local art tourists. The Iowa Sculpture Festival partners with the Newton Community School District to hold yearly tours of the public artworks on display, and information on self-guided walking tours is available at several locations across town.

“We even have schools coming from other towns to view the public art and have a curriculum based around them,” Klepinger said.

For artists like DeBruyne, participating in the program is a chance to get some recognition for their work. Each artist receives a stipend of $1,100 for their sculpture. The works are on display from May through November. By rotating through different artists the project has the opportunity to showcase many different types of art, Klepinger said.

When Klepinger first started the project the stipend offered to artists was only $500. Now that the idea of public art has become so popular across the state, she said they decided to raise the stipend this year to make sure they were the first choice for artists.

“We put out the call for entries every spring, and we had better response to our call for entries this year due to the raised stipend,” Klepinger said. “We’re excited about that.”

DeBruyne, who has known Klepinger for years, said she’s thrilled to be part of the project. A native of Belgium, DeBruyne said she was inspired by famous Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx. She also wanted to tie the work back to Iowa.

“The big gears and the sprockets, there are flowing lines that represent the hills of Iowa. The hills get smaller as you’re biking, different phases of life, shifting gears, that’s the symbolism behind it,” DeBruyne said. “This is really bold for me, it’s also quite large in size.”

Contact David Dolmage at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or ddolmage@newtondailynews.com