I was invited to come shoot some nighttime photography as part of the local Des Moines area Flickr Group. You can see most of my shots from this outing at: Downtown at Night Photo Album.

You can check at all the participant’s photography by visiting: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1014797@N22/ or watching the slide show below.

This video documentation of the six-month installation process of the Pappajohn Sculpture Park was produced by Blur MediaWorks as a gift to the City of Des Moines and the Des Moines Art Center.

Sometimes I shake my head in disbelief. Des Moines puts on a face of such a progressive city with its awesome new sculpture park until you see what was selected for bike racks around the park. I invite you to play the game, of the 10 images of bike racks on the photo above, one type was selected for the Pappajohn Sculpture Park, and five other types can be found around downtown and three types are possibilities that could exist in downtown with had a few more creative minds that participated in the selection of bike racks.

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It appears that works put down some sod this week at the east end of the park. Things are beginning to show a wrapping up and a countdown to completion. I can’t wait, this is a huge amenity for us downtown dwellers to go walking through every evening.

From the June 26th Press Release:
MAJORITY OF SCULPTURES INSTALLED AT JOHN AND MARY PAPPAJOHN SCULPTURE PARK: The Des Moines Art Center and city of Des Moines are pleased to announce that installation is nearly complete at the John & Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park.

Featuring 24 sculptures by 19 artists, the Pappajohn Sculpture Park will be a priceless addition to Des Moines’ Western Gateway Park. The installation of the sculptures highlights a process that began over two years ago with the generous donation of the sculptures by philanthropists John and Mary Pappajohn to the Des Moines Art Center.

Currently, all but one of the sculptures in the Pappajohn Sculpture Park have been installed. The final piece, Nomade (2007) by Jaume Plensa, will be installed in early July. Meanwhile, landscape architects will continue paving walkways, installing lighting elements, and laying sod. While much of the work will be complete in July, the John & Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park will not officially open until September. In the meantime, the Des Moines Art Center thanks everyone for their interest and patience during the construction process.

One of my favorite summer events is the annual downtown Des Moines Arts Festival. Here are some highlights about this year’s event, for more details check out their website at: http://www.desmoinesartsfestival.org

DATES: June 26 – 28, 2009

TIMES: Friday, June 26 – 4 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Saturday, June 27 – 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. (Fireworks at 10 p.m.)
Sunday, June 28 – 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

WHERE: Western Gateway Park, Downtown Des Moines, Iowa

WHAT: Des Moines Arts Festival
– 175+ Premier Professional Visual Artists sponsored by Aviva USA
– 24 Emerging Iowa Artists sponsored by Principal Financial Group®
– 24 Non-profit Organizations sponsored by Prairie Meadows showcasing services and activities
– GuideOne Insurance Interactive Mural presented by the Des Moines Art Center
– Non-stop live music on the U.S. Cellular Stage
– Gavin DeGraw and Collective Soul on Friday night proudly presented by
Hy-Vee in celebration of the Hy-Vee Triathlon and sponsored by Budweiser
– New Jazz & Wine Pavilion presented by Meredith Corporation
– Performing Arts Stage featuring dance, music and theatre
– Live Street Theatre
– 30 Interactive Arts Activities
– 376 students from 96 Schools in the Des Moines Art Center’s Nurturing a Student’s Vision Program
sponsored by Hubbell Homes
– Interrobang Film Festival presented by Nationwide
– 24 Eclectic Food Booths sponsored by Hy-Vee
– Sculpture Garden

ADMISSION: FREE

Over the last serveral weeks, sculptures have been appearing every days as installation begins for the Pappajohn Sculpture Garden in the Western Gateway Park. I scoured the internet to find everything I could about this park to bring it all together in one place. Here’s what I found:

In February 2007 Des Moines Art Center Director Jeff  Fleming announced that Des Moines philanthropists John and Mary Pappajohn plan to give the Art Center a minimum of 16 major sculptures by internationally acclaimed contemporary artists. The Pappajohns are known worldwide and ARTnews magazine listed them as one of the top 200 art collectors in the world.

The collection of sculptures by artists Louise Bourgeois, Scott Burton, Deborah Butterfield, Anthony Caro, Tony Cragg, Willem deKooning, Mark di Suvero, Barry Flanagan, Ellsworth Kelly, Martin Puryear, Richard Serra, Joel Shapiro, Judith Shea, Tony Smith, and William Tucker will be the most significant donation of artwork to the Art Center in a single gift in the museum’s history.  According to art critics, the Pappajohns’ donation will likely bring Iowa renown as having one of the best public sculpture gardens in the world. In a new partnership formed with the city of Des Moines, the sculptures will be installed in the city’s Western Gateway Park in a permanent feature to be named The John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park.

Here are some of the works that have all ready been installed as of today (May 29th, 2009):

Spider, 1997 – Louise Bourgeois – American, born France, 1911 – Bronze – 94 x 94 x 84 inches

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